Mundus Diabolus
by Ogro
Summary: Three years after leaving Negi and some other classmates behind in the Magic World, Ala Alba trained for the day that he would call on them again. When Zazie brings news that he has been brought to the Demon Realm, can Ala Alba come to his aid?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: **Here we go, another story, new fandom. I've always tried to find a good fanfic for this series, but couldn't find any suited to my tastes, so I decided to make my own.

On another note, I am going ahead with my own plot, only slightly unrelated to the main plot of the series, so I don't have to make any (incorrect) predictions about the future of Negima.

Begin!

_**Mundus Diabolus**_

**Prologue**

Negi Springfield awoke to a bright and shining morning, feeling more content than he was in a long time. His blankets were tightly wound around him and his bed was a mess of sheets, but it was his own bed in his own home. He breathed a happy sigh. There was no need to get up yet, no class to run to, no troubles that needed to be addressed.

He was ten years old again, and his parents could deal with that.

The smell of breakfast reached his nose, and, smiling, he rushed out of his bed, nearly tripping among his blankets. His bedroom was open and roomy, but comfortably lived in, with wide windows that gave him a splendid view of the Welsh countryside. The rest of his home was great, but this room was his favorite.

Entering his mother's kitchen, he greeted both of his parents with a broad smile while Arika placed his breakfast in front of him.

"Knew you'd smell your mother's wonderful cooking," said Nagi, grinning at his son.

"He's a growing boy and needs his food," Arika replied demurely. "You were quite the big eater yourself." Still smiling, Negi dug right into his food.

"Moooooorning, Negi!" called the voice of a young girl, barreling into the room. Her messy blonde hair bounced around as she ran to Negi's side, hugging him tightly. She looked up at him, beaming, her green and blue eyes shining.

_She looks so much like Mom, _Negi thought to himself. _Just as much as I resemble Dad._

"Good morning, Ama," Negi said to his sister, patting the rambunctious six year-old on the head. Giggling, the little girl sat down at her own seat, waiting for her breakfast to be served.

"Guess what! Today, at school, we're supposed to be learning about activation keys, or something like that. But I wanna cast some magic already!" the little girl announced, reaching for the pitcher of orange juice. "And then Ms. McGuiness said we're gonna start planning our field trip, too," she continued, talking so fast that Negi had trouble keeping up. "And I can't wait for Anya to come visit right after that, right Negi? Hey, wait a minute, when was the last time we saw cousin Nekane?" Nodding to indicate that he was listening, Nagi continued shoving food in his mouth as his daughter struggled with the orange juice, but she ended up spilling it all over herself as she tried pouring it into her glass. "Oopsie."

"Amateru!" Arika chastised, as Nagi and Negi both jumped, getting their laps covered in juice. "Honestly, you're about as clumsy as your father."

The little girl gave a toothy grin in response, and for a moment, looking at her differently colored eyes, Negi was reminded of his close friend.

"Mother, Father, have you heard from anyone back at Mahora yet?" he asked, as three of the Springfields cleaned up the juice while Arika grumpily continued cooking.

"The Mahora Festival isn't starting for another two days," his mother said over her shoulder. "We're going to go and visit then."

"I see," Negi replied, nodding.

"Miss all your girlfriends?" Nagi asked him teasingly, while Ama giggled.

"I haven't seen them since the summer," he replied, blushing. Hastily, he finished cleaning and excused himself from the table, going back up to his room in embarrassment. He missed all the girls from 3-A and Kotaro, but his dad didn't have to call them _that._

Changing into clean clothes for the day, Negi looked at himself in his mirror. He saw a scrawny, studious boy looking back at him, messy red hair tied into a short ponytail. He was just a ten year-old student of magic, a young boy with a happy life.

But his eyes said otherwise. Behind his spectacles were eyes that had seen a great many things, eyes that had suffered more than any boy his age should have, eyes that knew pain well. They were windows into his tortured soul. He was weary, and they were clearly not the eyes of a ten year-old.

_That's right, _he thought to himself. _I'm not ten anyway. I'm almost fifteen. This… isn't real._

It was just an illusion. He knew how to get out. It was just so difficult to return back to that dying world, when everything was so nice and peaceful and perfect here. His will was nearly shattered.

He tried opening his mouth to say the two simple words that would break the spell. He gaped like a fish washed up on the shore, but no sounds were coming out of his mouth. _Audacia paula. I know the words. I should be able to do this._

Ama came bounding into his room, tripping over one of his heavy tomes on the floor. She fell to the floor. "Ouch!" she squeaked, but before Negi could run to his sister's side she was already up again. "Negi, come play with me before I have to go to school!"

"Okay," he said with a gentle smile, being led away by the hand. Any desire to escape this world was forgotten.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Just a short prologue. Onto the next chapter. Please review, if you like.


	2. Ala Alba, Stronger Than Ever!

**Author's Note: **So here's the first real chapter of the story. Please excuse my inability to correctly write the Latin spells – several of them are made up by me, and I know very little of the language. Long enchantments are especially hard. Credit goes to the Negima wiki for spells already used in the series. I'm going to try translating the spells into English for your convenience, though it might take away from the flow of the story. Let me know how that goes, and I'll either keep the translations in or forget them altogether. However, keep in mind, they're probably wrong.

On the other hand, activation keys are fun and random.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the _Negima! Magister Negi Magi _series, or any of its translations, characters, settings, or otherwise; nor do I profit from anything concerning it.

_**Mundus Diabolus**_

**Chapter One: Ala Alba, Stronger than Ever**

"Sagitta Magica, Series Lucis!" One hundred and one magic arrows of light erupted from around the mage's body, homing in on her faraway enemy. With great agility, the shadow mage leapt away from her attack, then abruptly changed his direction with blazing wheels of shadow at his feet, flying directly toward her. She frowned – being an artillery-type mage, close combat wasn't her forte. And with her ministra currently locked in combat, she would have to deal with him herself.

Upping the power behind her magic barrier, Konoka Konoe began to incant another spell. "Halo La Fae O May," she muttered her activation key. "Vertatur Tempestas Veris! Me Protectionem Aerialem! Flans Paries Venti Vertentis!" _("O Turning Storm of Spring! Bestow your Aerial Protection upon me! Blow Forth, Wall of Churning Wind!")_ Before her opponent could reach her, a massive tornado came into being all around the young woman, protecting her from his close-range attacks. From within the calm eye of her conjured tornado, she began to chant another spell. "Dominus Lux et Signum Regenerationis, Concidet! Gladius Solis!" (_"Lord of Light and Sign of Rebirth, Cut! Sun Sword!") _A solid beam of light fired from her hands, cleaving through her own tornado and striking her opponent head-on. He was blasted away from her with a grunt of pain.

Momentarily, she took the opportunity to glance over to her partner to see how she was doing. Setsuna Sakurazaki was still testing her opponent, using only her artifact from Negi, the sixteen flying knives, to pester the other warrior from all sides. Her opponent, Madoka Kugimiya, was wielding a humongous battle-axe, but her weapon was much slower than Setsuna's, so she was having difficulty fending off the smaller attacks. Finally, Madoka decided to ignore the knives and let them graze her, attacking Setsuna head-on. Setsuna lifted her Yunagi blade to intercept the blow, but the force behind the chop and secondary effect of Madoka's artifact caused her to drop her blade.

Surprised for a second, Setsuna flipped backwards to give herself some space from Madoka's next attack, and pulled a card from her sleeve – that of her second pactio. "Adeat!" she called. "Takemikazuchi!" The card turned into a magical sword, and after feeling the familiar tug on her magic, Konoka supplied some of her considerable pool of energy to it. It proceeded to grow to enormous proportions, but it was wielded easily in Setsuna's hand.

"I'm going to finish this quickly," the swordswoman said quietly. She rushed forward to attack Madoka, who instinctively drew back, alarmed, but managed to parry the first blow. Setsuna's blade floated just above her hand, but spun with great speed and fluid movements, while her Sica Shishikushiro, the flying knives, continued to pepper Madoka from all sides.

_Looks like Secchan is getting serious, _Konoka thought to herself. _I guess I will, too!_ However, her opponent was taking an abnormal amount of time to retaliate, so she hesitantly called out to him. "Kotaro? Did I hurt you too much?" Suddenly, she noticed her own shadow expanding beneath her, and it rose up to engulf her on all sides. Slightly panicked, she released the Sagitta Magica that were floating around her for surprise attacks like this, and the light cut through the darkness. However, as his spell cleared, Kotaro himself emerged from a shadow in the ground, and before she knew it, his sharp claws were at her throat. He was within her magic barrier, and they both knew it.

She had lost their duel.

"Zanganken!" they both heard Setsuna shout, as she used one of her Shinmei-ryu techniques to take out Madoka. The short-haired woman was slammed into the ground by Setsuna's attack, dropping her axe with a loud clang. Now, the match was officially over. It had ended in a draw. All four of them were panting in tiredness. The fight had lasted almost two full hours.

As Konoka immediately went to work healing them all, Kotaro moaned. "I don't know how you do it, Konoka. I'm beat."

"It was a good match," Setsuna said. "She just has more magic reserves than you do," she said to the half dog-demon. Konoka simply smiled as she incanted her healing spells. Madoka needed it the most. "Kugimiya, your Ki control has gotten much better," the warrior complimented. "You had me a few times. You've come a long way."

_Well, we all have_, Konoka thought. It had been three full years since any of them had last seen Negi, who stayed behind in the Magic World. By this time, the rest of Ala Alba, Evangeline included, decided to let the rest of their class know of the existence of magic, considering Negi himself said he needed Ayaka Yukihiro, the class representative, in his plan to save the Magic World. Now, they were all training to get as strong as they could, preparing for the moment when Negi would call on them again.

By this time, Class 3-A was no more. They had all graduated Mahora High, but in the past year most of them had forsaken their studies to become stronger. Only a few of them went on to become students of Mahora University, since the majority of the class was now eighteen years old. Kotaro, however, was around fifteen, but it was hard to tell because of the time he spent within Evangeline's villa.

"Thanks, Setsuna," Madoka grunted as her light wounds were healed. "That battle was crazy. We fought for so long."

"It was fun," Konoka said with a smile. She decided to learn offensive magic, tired of sitting on the sidelines in battle. Evangeline approved – the vampire thought her magical prowess was being put to waste if she only used it for healing. Her grandfather, the principal of Mahora Academy, trained her himself, since he shared her affinity to light and wind.

"Abeat," both ministrae toned at once, dismissing their artifacts.

"Either way, I'm proud that you're my ministra, Madoka!" Kotaro said to her with an approving grin. Konoka swore that she saw the former cheerleader blush. She didn't blame her, because Misa was right – Kotaro _did_ become attractive as he grew up, and no longer had use for the age-changing pills. Konoka suspected that Negi must have been the same way…

Sighing, she put her hand in her sleeve, drawing out her own pactio card. Konoka, too, was still a ministra to Negi, despite the fact that his whereabouts were unknown. But he was still living. Her active contract with him proved that.

Every day, all of Negi's ministrae looked at their cards to make sure he was still alive.

Putting her card away, she worriedly looked into the infinite distance of Evangeline's beautiful villa, which Ala Alba basically took as their base of operations the past few years. They knew Negi was alive, but what about the other members of Ala Alba that stayed behind with him? They had no way of knowing.

"Konoka," Setsuna said to her quietly, appearing by her side. Konoka turned to her childhood friend and smiled, glad for the gesture of comfort and the fact that her ministra no longer referred to her so formally.

"I know. I need to stop worrying," she said. Madoka frowned, while Kotaro scratched his head uncomfortably.

"Let's return to the others," Setsuna suggested.

* * *

"Quite a long and rough battle, I see," Evangeline said by way of greeting once they came to the center of her villa.

"Hope you didn't overdo it again," Natsumi Murakami inputted. "You know Chizuru would worry." Kotaro pouted. The redheaded girl changed very little over the years, which was something to be proud of. She was one of the few who remained as a noncombatant member of Ala Alba, but her artifact still made her incredibly useful for stealth. However, this was because Kotaro wanted to keep her out of the battlefield, leading him to form another contract first with Chizuru, who also received an artifact that was not suited for head-on combat, and later Madoka, who did. Recently, however, Kotaro formed another pactio with Mei Sakura, but she was currently in Istanbul with her other magistra, Takane, doing government work.

Due to having to share him with other girls, Natsumi wasn't very happy.

"Stop worrying, we're fine," Kotaro whined, relaxing on a chair next to her.

"If you're still able to fight, you should keep training!" urged Ayaka Yukihiro, approaching them from within the villa. "No whining, you bratty kid. We have to become as strong as possible for Sensei when he needs us! When he calls, I, Ayaka Yukihiro, will faithfully come running to him, leading his army, Ala Alba!"

"It _has _become quite the army," Evangeline said with a smirk.

"He's not our sensei anymore," Setsuna remarked.

"You're crazy," Kotaro replied with a yawn. Konoka just laughed into her hand as Ayaka promptly whacked him in the head, causing him to erupt into anger.

Ayaka, previously their Class Representative, was now Student Council President of Mahora University (as she was quick to tell people), but still had plenty of time to devote to her own combat training, which she did with her usual zeal. She was still quite obsessed with Negi, and eager to gain a pactio of her own the moment they met him again. However, in the meantime, she was Eva's personal student of Aikido and wire puppetry, and was quite a skilled fighter in her own right. In fact, that alone made her one of Ala Alba's strongest warriors.

"Who else is here right now?" Konoka asked their vampire host. It was strange – they had all grown in height (and other places) but Evangeline alone looked exactly as she did three years ago.

"Just Sasaki and Kasuga," she replied. Makie and Misora. "Kasuga's teaching her Air Contraction. Chachamaru left a little while ago."

Makie was as devoted as Ayaka was to Ala Alba's cause, mostly because she felt guilty over how useless she was back in the Magic World. She had become another skilled fighter, utilizing all five of her artifacts with expertise, but it was at a price – her unrelentingly cheerful personality had faded, and all of her smiles were clearly fake out of her worry for Negi and the others who had stayed behind. She had even given up her gymnastics competitions. It was quite alarming to all of her friends.

Misora, too, had changed, and not for the better. It was rare to see her cheerful these days as well, since her magistra and close friend, Cocone, was rewritten by one of the Fates during their escape from the Magic World. Since then, she had thrown herself behind Ala Alba's cause, and no longer showed any fear or hesitation. If anything, she had become reckless.

Despite the fact that they had stopped Fate Averruncus from Rewriting the Magic World, they had incurred some losses. However, the Great Grand Master Key was lost by both parties, having mysteriously disappeared once Asuna was safe. No one, not even Negi, Fate, or Asuna, knew where it was.

Konoka mentally calculated the time it was outside. "I have to go. It's time for my class," she said. "Setsuna, you need to get some rest," she said to her ministra, before she could rise to accompany her. Both of them smiled.

"I guess you're right," Setsuna acquiesced.

"I'll come with you," said Ayaka. "I have class as well."

Once they got to the outside world, Chamo the ermine immediately hopped onto Konoka's shoulder. He spent the last few hours lounging around Eva's house with Chachazero. Wordlessly, the three of them headed out to the center of Mahora's campus. It was a sunny day, and it did not reflect their moods.

Konoka was very conscious of the missing person that should have been between them – their mutual best friend, Asuna. As the Princess of the Twilight, she felt obligated to stay behind and find a way to protect her world.

The silence was awkward. Both of the girls and the ermine were usually so talkative.

Ayaka broke it first. "I still find it hard to believe that the ape was a princess," she said.

"It's still hard to swallow," Konoka admitted. "Even Negi is technically a prince." After they told Ayaka of the existence of magic, she demanded to know everything that had happened in the Magic World, everything they had learned. There was so much to tell. Sometimes, she still asked of all the fantastic battles they had fought. The new Ala Alba members had never been in a real fight yet.

"My Negi, a prince!" Ayaka crooned. "I shall become his princess, you will see. I have preserved my lips for him when we discover his whereabouts!"

"I wonder if bro scored any more pactios during his time in the Magic World…" Chamo wondered aloud.

"He better not have! He has too many already!" Ayaka protested. "I never knew I had so many rivals to his love. Everyone else is so far ahead of me!"

"That's because of the months we spent with him in the Magic World," Konoka pointed out.

"And my greatest rivals, Nodoka and Yue, have been with him even longer!" Ayaka yelled. At her words, Konoka was saddened further. They were two other close friends of hers, her fellow Library Expedition Club members, and yet both of them chose to stay behind with Negi. Out of the Library gang, only she and Haruna were left.

"Don't forget Chiu," said Chamo. "Last I checked, she was pretty high on the love chart. Bro loved having her around." Shockingly, even Chisame Hasegawa stayed behind, insisting that she was Negi's personal advisor and that he needed her. She was happiest in the Magic World.

"This is unacceptable!" Ayaka fumed. "My love will conquer all!"

"Um… My class is this way. I'll see you later, Class Rep!" Konoka said with faux cheerfulness, eager to get away from the obsessed girl.

"I'm not your Class Representative, I'll have you know. I'm Student Council President –" But before she could finish her sentence, Konoka was quickly out of hearing range.

"I like that girl," Chamo said. And yet, the shoulders he most commonly inhabited were hers, Asakura's, and Haruna's, now that Negi and Asuna were gone.

The lecture hall was full by the time Konoka got there, but class had not yet started. The expansive classroom was full of students, all college age. Chamo hid inside her bag to avoid attention, while Konoka made her way across the room to a small group of old 3-A girls sitting in the corner.

Despite the fact that they weren't all in school together anymore, 3-A was closer than every other graduating class, due to them all being in Ala Alba.

"Hi Yuna, Satsuki, Luna, Fumika," she greeted her friends, sitting down next to them. Chamo popped his head out to see them as all four responded.

"Yo, Konoka," said Yuna, leaning back on her chair nonchalantly. Her appearance and demeanor had changed surprisingly little. She still had her flair for battle, and wanted to spend all her time in Ala Alba, but her dad, a professor at Mahora, was keeping her in school. Despite that, she was a strong Magic Gunner. "So get this – my dad thinks it's time for me to get my own minister! Crazy, right? He basically said he wants me hitched and out the door!"

"Didn't you tell him you're fine with just being Negi's ministra?" Konoka asked.

"I said that! But, y'know, it's kinda hard to be a good ministra if we haven't seen our magister in a few years," she said with an unsure shrug. "Think we'll ever see him again?"

"Don't say that," Luna snapped. "Have faith in Negi. We do." Konoka nodded in agreement with the Magic World native. Usually so subdued and demure, it was rare to see her say something like that with conviction.

When they escaped from the Magic World, Luna (or Shiori, as she was called, when she was a member of Cosmo Entelecheia) she made a spur-of-the-moment decision to go to the Old World, just as Negi decided he was staying behind. She still came back with them, though, and had been a student of Mahora ever since, filling Chao's empty spot in 3-A's roster. Nobody noticed her elfish features – just like nobody noticed that Chachamaru was a robot. Fate had terminated his pactio with her, cementing her status as a member of Ala Alba, while she still had the same artifact from her pactio with Negi.

"Class is starting," Konoka said, but it didn't matter. The professor was too old to register the chatter that continued in the hall.

"Anyone wanna stop by Eva's resort after class?" Yuna asked them.

"I was just there," Konoka responded. Luna shook her head, trying to listen to the lecture, while Satsuki mentioned that she had homework.

"I'll go," Fumika said brightly. The better behaved half of the Narutaki twins had grown to be a pretty young woman, just like her sister, though both were still rather mischievous. They had become rather accomplished eastern mages, weaving spells through talismans and charms, and worked as a very proficient team with their unique Twin Magic.

Konoka's attention shifted to the lesson, a lecture on the importance of mythology in cultures all throughout the world. Of course, she knew most of the mythology was true, having spent a considerable amount of time in the Magic World. She encountered dragons, fairies, monsters, prevented the end of the world…

She found herself missing it. Even though they had endured so much danger, she couldn't deny that she had fun. Her powers were put to great use there, instead of being wasted for three years as she trained to become a Magister Magi. She could have been back in the Magic World helping people. _Perhaps I should have stayed behind as well,_ she thought forlornly.

That must have been why Kaede chose to stay. Konoka distinctly remembered her expressing happiness that her skills were being used to make a difference, unlike in the Old World. She stayed with Negi to finally put an end to Cosmo Entelecheia.

But how long would it take them to achieve their goals? When could they return to Mahora Academy?

_Negi…_

She felt warmth in her pocket, which very quickly became uncomfortable, and then painful as the heat sharply increased. The healer jumped up, alarmed, as Luna gasped and Yuna yelped in pain.

The professor heard this interruption. "Excuse me, Miss Akashi?"

"I'm sorry, Professor, but we have to go," Konoka said, feeling her thigh burning. Satsuki asked what was wrong, but Konoka gestured her and Fumika to come with them.

"You feel it, too?" Luna asked her, as they hurried out of the building, but by the time they got outside, the pain disappeared as quickly as it came.

"What happened?" Fumika asked, as Chamo went back to his usual spot on Konoka's shoulder to listen.

"What was that? Why were our cards burning?" Yuna asked, drawing her pactio card out of her bra.

"I don't know, it's never happened before," Konoka replied, alarmed, as she looked at both of her cards. Her card with Negi looked normal, depicting her fourteen year-old self. The contract card with Setsuna was fine as well. She put the second card to her forehead, calling for her own ministra.

_Secchan! Did you feel that?_ she asked telepathically, but then remembered that she wouldn't be able to reach her from outside Eva's villa.

"I wonder what that means," Fumika pondered aloud. "Should we go to Eva's?"

"That sounds like it would be best," Konoka said, as the five girls mutually headed back where Konoka was not too long before. She wondered if Negi's other attendants also felt the burning.

"I've never heard of that," Chamo said, scratching his chin.

Satsuki pointed someone out ahead of them, and Konoka focused on the figure. The white-haired girl was standing eerily still, staring straight at the five girls and ermine while crowds of students walked all around her.

"Is that… Zazie?" Yuna asked. Konoka stopped running forward, staring confusedly at their old classmate. Out of all of the 3-A graduates, Zazie Rainyday was the only one who did not join Ala Alba. She did not keep in contact with any of them. Three years ago, when they found out she was a demon due to encountering her older twin sister, they confronted her and asked her for everything she knew concerning Cosmo Entelecheia and the Magic World. However, the circus girl refused to say anything, and they left it at that. "She looks so creepy."

Konoka was on the defensive. Zazie was walking toward them. She secured her magic ring on her finger while Yuna held her card ready and Fumika pulled out a paper charm.

"Is she going to attack?" Luna asked, stepping back with Satsuki.

"No," the demon girl said, approaching them. Konoka was put off guard for a moment – had she ever spoken before? Her voice was surprisingly soft, and did not radiate any intention to harm them. All six Ala Alba members relaxed. "I have come bearing grave news."

"What's wrong? What do you know?" Konoka asked hurriedly. "Does it have to do with Negi?" Zazie's eyes were fixed on her.

"Yes," she replied. "I will be blunt. He was brought to the Demon Realm."

"The Demon Realm?" Chamo exclaimed in horror. "Big Bro!"

"Did Fate bring him there? Is that where he's been all this time?" Luna asked, stepping forward, her hands clasped over her chest.

"Cosmo Entelecheia had nothing to do with it," Zazie said. "It was the Demon King."

"That sounds scary!" Fumika threw in. "Are the others with him?" Zazie nodded.

Konoka's heart dropped. "We have to get to Eva and the others. Let's go!" she said to her friends. "Thank you for telling us, Zazie."

"Let me come with you. I want to see the villa, and all my old classmates," she stated, surprising them even further. Konoka simply nodded. It didn't matter. They needed to go. Was this why the cards were burning?

Maybe it meant that Negi finally needed them.

_Either way, we're going to come running_.


	3. Mundus Vetus

**Author's Note: **Okay, if you haven't been able to tell yet, I'm using the entire class of 3-A for this story, and more. I'll prevent things from getting out of hand, but I hope you guys know all your characters. They will be split into groups shortly.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the _Negima! Magister Negi Magi _series, or any of its translations, characters, settings, or otherwise; nor do I profit from anything concerning it.

_**Mundus Diabolus**_

**Chapter Two: Mundus Vetus**

Evangeline's house was still hidden from the majority of Mahora campus, and her only regular visitors were those from Ala Alba, with occasional visits from Headmaster Konoe, Konoka's grandfather. Either way, because of the space, convenience, and privacy of Eva's villa, Ala Alba chose it as their headquarters.

Konoka, Yuna, Satsuki, Fumika, Luna, and Zazie approached the front door to her wooden cabin, hoping that all of Negi's attendants had the same idea to gather together. "Whatever you decide to do, Konoka, we'll all be behind you," Chamo said, right before they were about to enter.

"Me?" she asked, but before the ermine could reply, another voice called out to them.

"Konoka! Did your card hurt you, too?" Ako Izumi asked, approaching with Akira Okochi.

"Guess it wasn't just me," said the voice of Haruna Saotome, appearing from the wooded trail around Evangeline's house. Misa Kakizaki and Sakurako Shiina, the other two cheerleaders, were with her. "Wait, what's Zazie doing here?"

"An explanation will have to wait until we get inside," the white-haired girl responded.

"Long time no see, Zazie," Sakurako greeted, flashing her a V-sign.

The moment they entered the magical villa, those who were currently already there surrounded all of them with questions.

Kotaro, Setsuna, Madoka, Natsumi, Misora, Makie, and Evangeline never left, but Kazumi Asakura and Sayo Aisaka beat Konoka and the others there.

"Guess all of Ala Alba's getting together for whatever this is, huh?" Misa said. The three cheerleaders immediately grouped together.

"I'll call Chizuru and Ayaka, then," Natsumi announced.

"Chachamaru is on her way with Hakase," Evangeline told them. "Fumika, get your sister."

"Roger!"

"I'm already here!" Ayaka trumpeted, appearing inside the villa with the missing Ala Alba members. "I sensed that something was wrong with Sensei!"

"Right, let's get started, then," said Asakura, pulling out her pactio card. Sayo hovered above her, holding her own card from Negi. "I assume we all just gathered here for the same reason? That is, the burning sensation we felt from our cards?" All of Negi's attendants nodded, while the other non-contracted members of Ala Alba seemed confused. "Right-o. Eva, can you tell us what's up with that?"

"No idea. Never heard of that before," the vampire admitted.

"It's demonic magic," Zazie said, stepping forward out of the crowd. A few people even gasped when they saw her. "Our sensei was captured by the Demon King. He is currently in the Demon Realm."

"What? Why? How did this happen?" Setsuna asked forcibly. "Negi is too strong to be captured by anyone, especially with who he has with him."

There were general exclamations of surprise like hers, but Evangeline's was the greatest and most surprising reaction of all.

Her eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open, and her face was paler than usual. "No," she said quietly.

Everyone was immediately silenced.

"Is the Demon Realm that scary?" Fuka piped up.

Evangeline ignored her, turning to Zazie. "How can you be sure?"

Wordlessly, Zazie gestured to the air above her, where white-faced, black blobs appeared, slightly transparent. Just as quickly, they vanished.

Sayo squeaked, drawing back from them. "They told her."

"Okay, not a big deal!" said Yuna, making a fist. "All we've got to do is go rescue him!"

"Are you insane? Do you not understand the gravity of the situation?" Evangeline hissed. She looked quite deranged. "That's it. It's all over. The boy is going to die, and so are his friends with him." Setsuna and Kotaro gritted their teeth in anger, but averted their eyes. Konoka put a hand to her chest.

Right now, with Ala Alba gathered together, their absence was greater than ever. She looked around at all her friends, her allies, her comrades. But even more, she looked at the empty spaces where more friends should have been.

Negi, their teacher, their master, who was the reason they were all here, who stayed behind to save a world that wasn't his own.

Asuna, Negi's knight, who had stayed behind to protect him as a princess of the Magic World.

Nodoka, who loved him too much to part.

Yue, who felt most at home in the world of magic.

Chisame, who stayed because Negi needed her.

Kaede, who was able to help the citizens of the Magic World with her power.

Ku Fei, who fought for her friends.

Mana, who believed in Negi's cause.

Anya, who didn't want to lose him again.

Konoka closed her eyes, imagining them all with her, wondering what they would do if the situation was reversed. They wouldn't hesitate.

"Everyone," Konoka called out, silencing the growing debate. All eyes were focused on her. "Negi's our magister, our teacher. We can't abandon him or anyone else. Most of us have faced great dangers and survived before, this will be no different." She took a deep breath. "I'm going."

"Not without me," said Setsuna, standing loyally by her side with a smile.

"Hell, I'm not missing out on the action," said Kotaro. "I think everyone else should stay behind, though. It's too dangerous."

"As if!" Yuna interjected, standing by their side.

"You're not getting rid of us that easily," said Makie. "I want to help Negi."

"And you're not going anywhere without your attendants, Kotaro," said Chizuru, standing next to Natsumi and Madoka, who smiled unwaveringly. "Though I don't think Mei Sakura will be joining us this time."

"It goes without saying, but I'm coming along this time as well," said Ayaka.

"A chance to put all our training to good use?" Misa asked, as Sakurako pumped a fist at her side. "Count us in."

"We want to come, too!" the Narutaki twins inputted.

"I would love to get the chance to research the chemical differences of the air and the soil in the Demon Realm and the practical applications of demonic magic," Hakase stated. Satsuki, too, voiced her desire to come along.

"I guess you'll all need my support," said Ako, smiling. "I'm willing to do anything if it means saving Negi."

"I suppose…" Akira said. "I really miss all of them. I hope they're alright."

"I've been in on all the secrets since the beginning," said Asakura. "I'm not going to chicken out of our most dangerous adventure yet."

"Even I can be useful this time around!" Sayo cheered.

Luna clasped her hands behind her back. "Negi…"

"I've been ready for something like this," Misora said firmly, clenching her first with determination.

"Yeah! All of Ala Alba's going!" Haruna cheered, to shouts and applause from everyone there.

Evangeline sighed. "So I guess that's it," she said, once everyone quieted down. "Ala Alba's next mission is to infiltrate the Demon World, Mundus Diabolus."

Konoka shivered. Everyone was silenced simply by the name of the world.

"Great! When are we leaving?" asked Sakurako brightly, oblivious.

"Hold it," Eva said sternly. "I'm still not recommending it. The Demon Realm is a hundred times more dangerous than the Magic World was. Even I was hard-pressed to survive the one time I went. And keep in mind, I can't go along to protect you."

"That doesn't sound too good," said Misora, wearing her nun's habit. But Eva's words didn't turn her off. "Let's go." More cheers were elicited from the crowd, causing Konoka to giggle. Old habits never really went away.

"Is anyone listening to what I'm saying?" Evangeline shouted, losing her temper. "You can't just go charging into the world of demons! And not only are there demons there, but other High Daylight Walkers like me, monsters…"

"Worry not," said Zazie. "I will accompany them. I have not been there in several years, but it is my homeland."

"We've been training for this," the twins said together. Akira shrugged unsurely.

"It should be interesting," said Satomi Hakase, pushing her glasses up on her nose.

"Well, fine, but you're all just going to your own funerals," Eva said gruffly.

"Gee, thanks," said Asakura.

"I'm appointing Konoka as the substitute President of Ala Alba in the meantime," Eva said.

"Me?" she replied, shocked.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" she asked rhetorically. "Yes, you. You have adequate leading skills and have the trust of everyone here. You won't leave your allies behind. Plus, your fighting skills aren't too bad anymore…"

"Master Evangeline! What about me?" Ayaka thundered. "I was their Class Representative, and now I'm Student Council President, and I have become strong as well!"

Eva looked at her grudgingly. "Vice President, then."

Ayaka glared at Konoka. "Well, that will have to do."

"That definitely works," said Ako. Haruna nodded eagerly.

"Cheers for the new Club Prez!"

* * *

According to Zazie, getting into the Demon Realm was a problem in itself. First of all, the only entrance was in the Magic World, so they would have to return there, and from that point, they would have to travel to the portal into the Demon Realm. However, the gate ports were only just recently fixed, so Ala Alba decided to use the one underneath the World Tree – this, however, was illegal.

That didn't matter to them, though. Entering the Demon Realm itself was illegal for humans, so one more broken law meant little. Since Zazie was a high-class demon, they were hoping she would be able to get them through security.

Due to Evangeline's advice, though, Konoka failed to mention that they were going all the way to the Demon World when she asked her grandfather to open up the gate port to Ostia. He was happy to open the gate for them, knowing they were going to help Negi, but it wouldn't be safe to travel until the next day.

Ala Alba spent their last night together in Evangeline's villa. Zazie had become an honorary member, and was given a white wing badge.

Konoka, Setsuna, Kotaro, Ayaka, and Zazie were awake with Evangeline and Chachamaru, discussing their plans for infiltration. Konoka was pacing worriedly, still stressing over the fact that Evangeline had handed her the reins of leadership.

"First, once we get into the Gravekeeper's Palace, we'll head to Ostia and board a whale ship to the southern city of Asphodel," Setsuna said, going over their plan. She looked to Zazie, letting her take over.

"From there we cross the river Acheron into Mundus Diabolus and avoid all towns, since we will be hunted down wherever we go. We shall journey on foot through the wild and wastelands to the Demon King's castle, where Sensei and the others are kept in the dungeons. It will be dangerous just to get there, but still safer than being seen in the public eye," she said. "Kotaro, myself, and his ministrae will be the ones to infiltrate the castle while everyone else waits outside and covers our escape. From there, we will do whatever it takes to return to the Magic World."

"Not a very solid plan, but it will have to do," said Evangeline. "You make it sound so easy."

"Something will go wrong, it always does," Kotaro pointed out, grinning.

"Don't say that, you dolt," Ayaka reprimanded.

"There are so many things to worry about," Konoka said. "Cosmo Entelecheia. Fate. The Megalomesembrian government."

"Those are Magic World problems," Zazie told her. "I assure you, Cosmo Entelecheia has nothing to do with the Demon World."

"If something does go wrong," Eva continued, "you still have strong fighters. Before, the boy, Nagase, Ku Fei, and Tatsumiya were among the strongest of Ala Alba. Setsuna and Kotaro were with them." The two warriors nodded. "However, now that the other four are gone, I think you've gotten suitable replacements. Konoka, Ayaka – I think you're both strong enough to join their ranks as Ala Alba's strongest," she said with a smile, almost a smirk.

Konoka bowed gratefully. Compliments from Eva were rare.

"As expected," said Ayaka. This was a very foolish thing to say.

Ignoring the fact that Ayaka was now frozen from the waist down, Zazie nodded her head. "As I said, I have considerable power myself. The chances of anyone coming to harm are slimmer when I am with them."

"I'll have to take your word for it," Eva said. "Then again, Akashi is quickly approaching your level, too. And I hate to say it, but that idiot Al did a good job training Kakizaki. Kugimiya can fit as Ku Fei's successor when it comes to brute strength, as well."

"They can do it, Master. No need to worry," said Chachamaru Karakuri from Eva's side.

"Oh, yes, and you'll be taking Chachamaru, too," Eva said, turning to the robot. "The boy is your Master now as well, so you can choose."

"I want to help them," she said with a gentle smile. "I would put my level of power with Ku Fei, at least." Konoka, Setsuna, Kotaro, and Ayaka (who had freed herself from the ice by now) nodded and smiled approvingly.

"We should get to sleep," Konoka said to them. "We have a lot to do tomorrow!"

* * *

Preparing for the trip to the Demon World was a lot different from their trip to the Magic World, all those years ago. Konoka made sure she had everything she needed, from her magic rings, her pactio cards, and extra clothes. She even packed a few paper charms for her _Onymodo_ magic, even though the twins, Kotaro, and even Setsuna greatly eclipsed her own skills at the eastern magic. She knew Satsuki was handling all of the food; being the only true noncombatant member of Ala Alba, with no magical abilities whatsoever, she was the one who kept them all well fed.

They were not looking forward to their trip with optimism (for the most part, anyway), fully expecting dangers at every turn. They were not flying to the other side of the world to see London before leaving. Instead, they were leaving right from their school. They had no stowaways or tagalongs or mundane friends who wanted to follow along with them.

Despite that, some of them managed to maintain good spirits.

"The Demon Realm, huh?" Albireo Imma asked, tilting his head with that smile of his – the one that indicated that he knew more than he let on. "I see. I hope you have fun."

"It's not gonna be a fun trip, you pervy sensei!" Misa shouted, slamming him over the head with her magic staff. His body simply flickered out of existence for a moment, letting the attack pass harmlessly through him. She grumbled. Then she rethought her opinion, poking a finger to her mouth with her tongue sticking out. "Then again, we might meet some _horny _devils, like incubi for example…"

"That's why you're my student," Albireo said gleefully. "Sakurako, don't let your magistra get _too _out of hand."

"Got it," the cheerleader responded.

Shortly after Evangeline taught their mundane classmates about magic, Albireo overheard Misa casually mentioning the immortal vampire's lack of a sex life, which was so amusing to him that he immediately took her on as his own apprentice, to Evangeline's chagrin. Ever since, Misa had become a potent mage in her own right, another Wizard-type who used predominantly gravity and barrier magic. She even had her own ministra – her best friend, Sakurako.

"Once my grandfather gets here we'll be on our way," Konoka informed Zazie, who nodded in response. She turned to Albireo, remembering something. "Um… Mr. Imma?" He didn't seem to hear her. "Mr. Imma? … Albireo? Eggplant-sensei?"

Eva sighed. "Ku:Nel, you idiot!"

"Yes?" he asked, turning to them with a smile. She was going to tell him that the Headmaster wasn't supposed to know their true destination, but he had arrived with a few of the other mage teachers, namely Professor Akashi, Yuna's father. Takamichi wasn't with them – he was currently in the Magic World himself, trying to fix the situation with the Megalomesembrian Senate.

"Ready to go, children?" her grandfather asked them all. A couple of them looked a little miffed about being addressed as children, but it was mostly ignored. All the Ala Alba members were already standing around a glyph inside Albireo's home beneath the World Tree, itching to leave. "I know you're not telling me something about Negi's whereabouts, but I am going to trust you," he said. "I am putting myself and the unbalanced situation with Megalomesembria at risk here by opening this gate port again. I will be unable to open it a second time and I may not even be able to bring you back this way. Are you sure you are ready to leave?"

All of the members of Ala Alba looked one last time at Konoka as the glyphs on the floor began to glow – the magic teachers had started the incantation. The Konoe granddaughter nodded. "Yes. Let's go back to the Magic World."

"Good luck," Headmaster Konoe said.

She looked one last time at her grandfather, Evangeline, and Albireo, waving at them and attempting to put on her best smile. Albireo waved back with another of his smiles. "Enjoy your stay in the Demon Realm!" he said nonchalantly.

"What?" she heard her grandfather exclaim, but it was too late. She was able to mouth a quick, _Sorry!_ to him before Ala Alba was engulfed in light and vanished.

They were one step closer to Mundus Diabolus.


	4. Mundus Magicus

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the _Negima! Magister Negi Magi _series, or any of its translations, characters, settings, or otherwise; nor do I profit from anything concerning it.

_**Mundus Diabolus**_

**Chapter Three: Mundus Magicus**

Before Konoka even opened her eyes, she knew they were in the Magic World. The air itself was brimming with magic – how come she never noticed it the last time they were here? When she opened her eyes, she made sure all of her allies had handled the trip through the gate all right. Thinking back, she felt a little guilty about lying to her grandfather about going to the Demon Realm, but it was for the best.

"Oh, wow! It really is a flying city!" Sakurako exclaimed, running to the edge of the gate port's island to look down below.

"I can't believe it, but we're on Mars," Chizuru said delightedly. "Oh, if only the rest of the Astronomy Club were here…"

"This is amazing," Madoka said in awe. "I can't believe you guys got to live in a place like this for months…"

"It was definitely an experience," Asakura told them, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Leaving the Magic World newcomers to ogle the wondrous sight, Konoka stood next to Ako, who was looking in the direction of the Gravekeeper's Palace.

"It still feels like yesterday that all that stuff happened," the support mage told her. Konoka nodded in agreement. The memories were still fresh – the sphere of energy that had surrounded the ruins, the hundreds of Magic World airships that gathered together to stop the Rewrite. "Good thing Fate and his group moved out, right?"

"It wouldn't be safe to come through this gate otherwise," Luna said, approaching them. Fate was still a sore subject for her.

"The magic in the air is almost tangible! The readings are off the charts!" Hakase suddenly exclaimed, reading some of her instruments. "I regret not being able to come here earlier, there are so many things to study. What effects does it have on the wildlife? Chachamaru, does it make your body feel different?" She bustled through the ruinous area, placing her inventions everywhere she could. One mechanical contraption vaguely resembled a satellite dish, another looked like an exercise machine, but there were numerous others that Konoka couldn't even describe.

"Hakase, we aren't staying here long," Setsuna advised her.

"Where does she have room to pack all that?" Natsumi asked, eyes wide.

"Her backpack uses spatial-distortion technologies to allow her to carry many things," Chachamaru informed her. "Its function resembles that of Kaede's artifact."

Misora folded her arms. "When are we leaving for Ostia?" she asked, eager to leave the ruins. Three years ago, when they were escaping from the Gravekeeper's Palace, they had nearly made it to the gate port when Cocone was rewritten. It held bad memories for her.

"As soon as Haruna finishes her drawing," Kotaro said, bored.

"Don't rush me!" the artist barked. "It's harder than you'd think to draw a magic airship that'll carry all of us all the way to Ostia." She sniffed. "Now that we don't have the Great Paru-Sama…"

"Don't overdo it," Konoka told her. "It only needs to bring us to Ostia."

"Alright, here we go," the summoner artist said, standing up. "The _Great Paru-Sama II_!"

"Why am I not surprised at the name?" Yuna asked, rolling her eyes, as they boarded the airship that appeared in front of them. It was stylistically and functionally similar to the original, but Haruna added a few more artistic touches that were missing from the first ship. "Paru, you even added bathrooms and a kitchen to this one? Our flight is gonna be an hour, tops!"

"Well excuse me for making this comfortable for us," she replied, fixing her glasses.

"Could've put a little more space in," Chizuru told her, being pushed against the wall as Ala Alba filed into the airship.

"It doesn't matter, the ship is gonna disappear once we arrive in Ostia, anyway," Haruna said with a sigh.

"Who's driving?" Fumika asked.

"Can I?" Fuka piped up with excitement.

"No way, I'm driving," Haruna said, sitting in the cockpit. "And Chachamaru's my copilot."

"Roger, captain," the robot said, going to her assigned position.

"Get ready to lift off!" Haruna cried ecstatically. "Hope everyone's ready to go!"

* * *

Konoka and a few of the others stood on the outside deck of the _Great Paru-Sama II_, her robes billowing as she watched the expansive floating ruins pass by beneath her. Setsuna, Luna, Ayaka, Misa, and Zazie were standing with her, while everyone else was enjoying the inside of the airship.

"I'm most worried about encountering Cosmo Entelecheia in Ostia," Setsuna voiced, expressing what was on all of their minds. "Fate has confronted us right in the open there, as I'm sure you both remember," she said to Konoka and Luna, who both nodded.

"I wonder how many times Sensei has fought with them in the past few years," said Ayaka. "I'm sure they've been chasing him and the others down, trying to get Asuna and the Key."

"Still can't believe both you guys _and _Fate managed to lose that Key," said Misa, her arms crossed. Her ornate golden staff lay gently across her shoulder. "Fate probably thinks Negi has it."

"But since we don't have Asuna or the Key, does he have a reason to confront us?" Konoka asked. "He shouldn't have any interest in us being here, especially since Negi isn't with us."

"I wonder if Fate knows where Negi is now…" Luna said softly.

"We have no way of knowing what any of them were doing the past few years," Setsuna said. "Or what his current goals are. However, I am reasonably sure the ones that are most likely to attack us are the Averruncus of Fire and Tsukuyomi, as both of them lust for battle, no matter who it's with."

"All we have to do is get to the Demon Realm, and we'll be safe," said Ayaka. "From _those_ threats, anyway," she quickly amended.

"We will get there," Zazie said with a rare, reassuring smile, as small as it was.

* * *

As they had expected, it didn't take very long to get to the city of Ostia, the site of yearly peace celebrations. It was here that Negi and Kotaro fought Jack Rakan to a draw, where Ako, Natsumi, and Akira were freed from slavery, where Asuna was kidnapped by Fate and replaced with Luna…

"What a cool city," Misa said with a grin, looking all around. While very highly populated, Ostia wasn't as crowded as it was the last time Ala Alba was there – it was just a regular time of the year.

"Whoa! Is that a tiger man?" Fuka asked, gaping, as she pointed very obviously to a confused Magic World inhabitant.

"This is a real city in the clouds," Sakurako said cheerfully. "A real fantasy world!"

"It _is _rather impressive," Ayaka admitted to Konoka.

"Beautiful," agreed Chizuru.

Setsuna had her hand on her blade while Kotaro stood protectively on the perimeter of the group. "This is bad," the Shinmei-ryu swordswoman said. "We're attracting too much attention. Our group is too large. Murakami, please bring at least ten people under the protection of your artifact."

Natsumi blinked. "Y-yes. Adeat," she said, appearing in her ball dress and extravagant, wide-brimmed hat in a flash of light.

"There is no need," Zazie told them, standing perfectly at ease in the center of the small crowd. "I sense no ill will directed at us, nor are there any overly powerful entities nearby. We are safe in Ostia." She smiled. "Let us just enjoy the sights."

"You're being too uptight," Konoka told her friend, even though it was nothing new.

Setsuna nodded her head. "I'm sorry, but only Kotaro and I have any real experience fighting against someone like Fate here, with Kaede, Mana, and Asuna gone… I feel like I have to place the burden of protecting everyone on myself."

"You're worried about meeting Tsukuyomi," Konoka pointed out, as they continued walking to the whaleport. "But Secchan, Eva said herself that so many of us have gotten stronger now."

"Heh, you wouldn't understand the position of us senior warriors of Ala Alba," Kotaro said. "It was always our job to protect you guys back when almost everyone was a noncombatant."

"I won't pretend to be familiar with the struggles you've all had to go through, but rest assured, I consider myself strong enough to help with the protecting," Ayaka stated. "I _am _the Dark Gospel's personal apprentice, after all. The only other person who can say that is Sensei himself."

"Stop worrying about all of us, tough guys," Asakura said, grinning in their direction. "We're used to the danger."

"The real stuff is gonna happen in the Demon World," Sayo added, flying all around the group, protecting them herself. "Besides, I'm spreading my super-plain ghost aura around everyone. We won't be detected as easily, if there is anything to worry about," she said cheerfully. Ever since creating a pactio with Negi right before everyone returned to the real world, Sayo had benefited in many ways. She was no longer bound to the school, able to move about wherever she wanted freely. The magical binding with Negi also increased her ghostly powers, and with proper training, even Sayo was able to join Ala Alba on the front lines of battle.

"I suppose all of you are right," Setsuna admitted. "Let's just board the whale ship and head to Asphodel as fast as we can."

Konoka smiled as she watched Makie gesture happily to many of Ostia's most interesting sights, telling stories to the newcomers of their adventures there. The former gymnast seemed much brighter than usual. She, too, was happier to be back in the Magic World.

"See that stadium _way _over there? We saw Negi beat a legendary hero in front of millions of people!" Makie enlightened the former cheerleaders and the twins, to which they were in awe.

"It was actually a draw, dummy," Yuna scoffed. "Rakan probably went easy on him, now that I think back to it…"

"Why'd he fight that guy again?" Fuka asked.

"He was doing it to free Akira, Natsumi, and I," Ako said with a reminiscing smile. "We were slaves here for a little while. Negi was pretending to be his older cousin Nagi, though." Akira nodded.

"Perhaps we can repay that debt by saving him this time," the swimmer said.

"Hey, are you forgetting that I fought there too?" Kotaro interjected, offended. "Now, I bet I'd be a match for Rakan all by myself!" he boasted proudly.

"Don't be such a braggart, Kotaro," Chizuru told him. "If you're not careful, it can happen," she said with a bright, unnerving smile.

"Uh… Right, never mind," he said nervously, shrinking back.

"But Chizu, do you even know what Jack Rakan is like?" Natsumi questioned. She shrank back with just as much fear when Chizuru gave her the same, frightening look.

"What's that about?" Misora asked, amused and slightly afraid at the same time.

"Chizuru is trying to teach Kotaro not to show off too much," Madoka informed her, grinning.

"An attendant threatening their magister with their artifact?" Haruna noted. "That's not something you see every day."

It turned out that there was nothing to worry about in Ostia, as Ala Alba had gotten to the whaleport safely. It was a little more crowded than the city outside, but with Setsuna and Kotaro on guard, there was little to be nervous about.

Most of the girls were quite impressed by the whaleships, however, and ran over to the docks to see them as closely as they could, Chachamaru accompanying them.

"Wow!"

"My, my, how amazing!" Chizuru cried, watching one take off for the clouds.

"They look like real whales," Sakurako said. "Are they the real, living thing?"

"Of course not," Hakase scoffed, pushing her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. "A biological creature such as a whale would never be able to fly, with magic or otherwise. The mass and weight of their bodies would not be able to be held up purely by magic. It's just impossible! They are purely mechanical, though up close I am quite surprised by the craftsmanship of these ships. They seem much more aerodynamic than I thought they would be…"

"But they even make whale noises when they leave!" Fumika exclaimed, completely ignoring the scientist.

"Even though I've been here before, I've never gotten the chance to see one of these up close," Natsumi said. "Straight out of a fantasy."

"I've spent enough time on these things the last time we were here," Asakura said, a little disdainfully. "I was the one who had to go looking for everyone."

Back at the ticket booths, Konoka and Ayaka were handling the purchases. Setsuna stood protectively over them, as always. Konoka thought she was being a little paranoid – everyone's' sensory abilities were at their highest alert, and Asakura even had her camera spy golems flying throughout the city for any sign of a threat. "Honestly," said Ayaka, looking at their excited club mates. "They all act like children."

"Stop trying to act like an old lady," Konoka said to her, chipper as ever. "You're only eighteen."

"Hmph!" she responded, slightly offended.

"Let them have their fun," Konoka said further. "You should be just like them. It's your first time here too, isn't it?"

"I suppose," she replied, and wandered off, allowing herself to look slightly interested.

Satsuki nodded approvingly at Konoka, smiling.

"Are we ready to go?" Zazie approached, wearing a gentle smile herself. She seemed eager – or as eager as the quietest girl in their class could be – to return to her birthplace.

"We've got our tickets," she said, holding them up for the demon girl to see. "Let's get going to Asphodel."

Konoka, Setsuna, Zazie, and Satsuki joined the line boarding the whaleship, sighing embarrassingly as some of their companions made a huge fuss about who went first. Surprisingly, Ayaka had joined them.

"Since Konoka prefers to stay in back, I, Vice President of Ala Alba, should be first in line! It is only appropriate!" the rich Old World heiress said forcefully.

"Can it, Class Rep!" Yuna argued.

"I wanna see the whale's insides!" Fuka shouted.

Tired of all the pushing, Misa held out her hand, wordlessly casting a spell to lower the force of gravity on all the girls who were fighting to get in front. As they floated gently above her, she and Sakurako walked nonchalantly into the ship, the latter sticking out her tongue at the floating girls.

"No fair, Kakizaki!" Yuna yelled. Abruptly, the floating girls fell to the floor, eliciting groans. Sayo passed by above them, giggling, flying right through the hull of the ship.

"No magic in the whaleport!" one guard yelled at them, but he was ignored as the rest of the passengers filed in.

The insides of the whaleships were wide, with plenty of room for the passengers to walk around wherever they wished and windows to view the outside world. There was even a deck that went around the outside of the ship, giving them a chance to see everything below and around them.

"Now this is traveling in style," Misora said, putting her hands behind her head and walking off.

"Ooh, there's a bar here," Sakurako said with a smirk. She was about to make a beeline towards it, but Chizuru grabbed her by the back of the shirt.

"Not a chance," the motherly young woman told her. "You're still underage."

"Actually, the laws in the Magic World are different," Hakase told her, but even the self-proclaimed soulless scientist shrank back when she was on the receiving end of Chizuru's glare.

Just a few minutes later, the ship took off smoothly, gliding through the air as the engines made noises resembling whale songs.

"Konoka." The healer looked to her side, where Setsuna appeared. She didn't even notice she was gone. "Kotaro and I made a full sweep of the ship. There's no one here to harm us."

"Good," she responded with a relieved smile. "You can relax now, you know."

"Sorry," Setsuna replied, allowing a small grin. "It's a lot different working with you than it is with Negi. He worries about everything."

"I know, and I feel like I'm worrying more than I usually do, too!" Konoka laughed.

"Aha! I knew I heard them right!" said the voice of a loud, boisterous male. Both Konoka and Setsuna turned, the latter with her hand on her sword, ready to draw it out at a moment's notice. "Get over here, Lyn! They did say Ala Alba before!"

"Keep your voice down, you rogue," Ayaka reprimanded, approaching them. "Who are you?"

"Kristian Danchecker," the blonde man responded, ignoring her comment. "Nice to meet ya, girly."

"How rude…!" Before Ayaka could explode, Konoka interjected with a smile.

"I remember you," she said. "You're Nodoka's treasure hunter friends."

Setsuna let go of her blade. "It's good to see you two are doing well," she said, as the dark-haired Lyn approached.

"You've met these people before?" Ayaka asked in surprise. Natsumi, Yuna, Makie, Ako, and Akira came over, waving, while Kotaro grinned and nodded his head in greeting.

"Long time no see," the half dog-demon said.

"Your group has gotten bigger since the last time we saw you," Lyn Garland observed. "But you no longer travel with the boy or Nodoka, I see."

"Well, lots has happened," Konoka said sheepishly.

"It's great to see you again!" Asakura exclaimed, coming over and shaking their hands. Konoka was momentarily confused by her enthusiasm, but she remembered that their friends, Craig and Aisha, had sacrificed themselves to Dynamis to save her and Nodoka's lives.

The atmosphere had become suddenly more sullen to Konoka. The treasure hunting party had been reduced to two.

"We haven't seen Nodoka and the others in a few years, actually," Asakura told them. "How's your treasure hunting coming along?"

"It's virtually nonexistent," Lyn said. "Kris is useless in a dungeon."

"Hey!" he protested. "It's really been that long since you've last seen them?" he asked. "Lyn and I just ran into them last month!"

"What?"

"Are you serious?"

"Where?"

"Were they all okay?"

"How much did my big bro grow?"

At this point, all of Ala Alba had gathered around the two treasure hunters, firing questions left and right, more excited than they had ever been. Even Setsuna was in shock, having straightened up with her eyes wide. Kris and Lyn seemed a little overwhelmed, until they all managed to calm down enough for their questions to be answered.

"It was just outside of Granicus," Kris told them. "They were all there. I swear, that kid's gotten even more powerful since he beat Rakan in that tournament. We dealt with some monsters with them. That ninja girl and sniper were pretty scary, not to mention the martial artist. Don't get me started on Asuna…"

"Tell us all about them!" Haruna ordered, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. "How were Yue and Nodoka? And Chiu?"

"I was blown away by the power of Nodoka's best friend," the stoic Lyn said. "She was quite a talented witch, close to the level of trickiness that Negi himself was in that tournament. She even had an attendant, that Ariadne girl…"

"What? Yue's got a ministra?" Makie asked, eyes wide. "Beatrix? Or Collet?"

"Beatrix was her name," Lyn said. "That's right. And I regret to inform you, but Collet Farandole, her other ministra, was rewritten by Cosmo Entelecheia."

"We traveled with them for a while," Kris said forlornly. "She was a nice girl. I'm sorry."

Konoka averted her eyes as the others looked down in sadness. Collet was their ally at the Gravekeeper's Palace. It seemed that they _had_ been fighting Fate the past few years, and he still had the powers of the Code of the Lifemaker, despite missing the Great Grand Master Key…

"What about Sensei's childhood friend?" Ayaka asked. "He would be devastated if anything happened to her. The little fire mage?"

"Oh, that girl," Kris said. "She was a scary one. 'Little fire mage?' She's become quite the sorceress in her own right," he said, shivering. "Got quite a few burns from her temper. Her minister's okay, too."

"Even _Anya_ has an attendant?" Yuna exclaimed, pulling at her hair. Makie was in a similar state of shock. "Who the heck is it?"

"Uh… Forgot his name," Kris said, scratching his head. "Quiet kid. About her age. Think he mentioned that he used to work for the Ostian governor-general."

"I hate to say it, but that's pretty hard to believe," Ako admitted, laughing into the back of her hand.

"I'm glad for Anya," Natsumi said, to which Akira nodded in agreement.

"But Asuna's okay? They're all there?" Misora asked, a hint of a desperate tone in her voice. Konoka understood – even though they all knew that Negi and the others had been taken to the Demon Realm, just hearing how they all were just around a month ago was more than they could have asked for…

"Well… Everyone you asked for was all together," Kris said, scratching the back of his head. "And I feel really bad about telling you all this, but… You did tell us what happened to Craig and Aisha, so…"

"One day when we were with them, a girl appeared," Lyn said. "She was clearly an enemy they had confronted before, but before she could do anything, she started casting this spell… Almost like a summoning, but it felt strange. After that, they were all gone. We tried looking for them, but… We were hoping that you knew something."

"Did you happen to learn her name?" Zazie suddenly asked, stepping forward. Both Kris and Lyn gasped and their hands went to their weapons.

"You!" Lyn said harshly. "Everyone, step back! This is the one that took them away!"

"Wait!" Konoka cut in, putting her arm protectively in front of Zazie. "It's a misunderstanding. I think I know what happened." Other passengers were beginning to stare at them. "Did she look just like our friend Zazie?"

"Yes," Lyn said. "The resemblance is unmistakable."

"That was my sister," Zazie said. "The one you call 'Poyo.' I assumed it would be her…"

"What'd she do to them?" Kris asked.

"It was a reverse demon summoning spell," Zazie explained. Konoka understood. It was how she pulled them into the Demon Realm.

"What kind of magic is that?" Lyn asked, her brow furrowed. "They couldn't even fight her off. She was too powerful."

"Thank you for telling us everything, Kris, Lyn," Konoka said with a bow. "But we have the situation under control. We are going to help them."

Lyn regarded her coolly. "If you say so. They are your companions, so I believe you. I'm not even going to ask where she took them or where you're going."

"Huh? I wanna know," Kris said, curious.

"Really sorry, but we shouldn't say," Asakura said apologetically. She winked. "Just trust us to save them."

Konoka needed air. She left all the others to go out on the deck of the whaleship, holding out her hand to let Setsuna know she would be fine. Her robes and hair billowing in the cool air, she gripped the safety railing. The sun was starting to set, and she was tired.

She was happy that Negi, Asuna, Nodoka, Yue, Chisame, Anya, Kaede, Ku Fei, and Mana were all still together, and that they had all grown in power and skill. Yue and Anya had even scored themselves attendants, going further down the road to becoming Magister Magi with Negi, Konoka, Kotaro, Misa, and the Narutaki twins.

But they had also learned that 'Poyo' Rainyday was still their enemy. _We may just end up seeing her again in the Demon World_, she thought to herself. _We'll have to be ready for her._

She looked to her right, suddenly spotting Luna deep in thought as she looked into the clouds. "Luna!" Konoka called, walking up next to her friend. "I didn't even see you there."

Fate's former ally looked up at her with a small smile. "I didn't notice you, either."

"Is something bothering you?" Konoka asked. Eva appointed her as the leader of this whole operation… It was her job to make sure her allies were in top spirits, wasn't it? "Wait, is it Fate?" she asked in surprise.

Luna sighed. "Yes… I still can't help but wonder where he is, you know?" She folded her hands. "I still don't understand why he just won't listen to Negi. I just wish they would stop fighting. And now that we just heard he rewrote another one of your friends… I'm very sorry!" The girl turned to Konoka, bowing fiercely.

Konoka grabbed her shoulders. "There's nothing to be sorry about," she said gently, pulling her into an embrace. "You're on our side now. Fate has his reasons for doing things, and we have ours. And don't worry – one day, we plan to get back all our friends that we lost."

Luna stepped back, wiping her eyes. "I guess you're right. I just want to see Negi again…"

"We will," Konoka said firmly. "And you're helping us find him. Right?"

"Of course," she responded with equal conviction. "I'm willing to put myself in danger just to meet Negi again. My time with him was so short before."

"Glad to have you with us," Konoka said. "I'm very happy that you became our classmate three years ago, Luna."

"Me too," she smiled. "Thank you, Konoka." Reassured, the Magic World native went back inside the whaleship. As soon as she was gone, Konoka let out a breath of relief.

"Whoa, that was hard," she said to herself. She turned around when she heard the door sliding open again, putting on another smile when she saw Satsuki joining her. "Hello," she greeted cheerfully.

The kindly chef of Ala Alba gave her a bright smile, looking at her approvingly.

"I'm kind of jealous of you, you know," Konoka admitted. "You're always so confident and stable." Satsuki simply told her it was what she was good at. "You know, it's a lot harder than I thought to be the new leader of Ala Alba," Konoka went on. "Everyone's looking up to me. It's kind of stressful. I have no idea how Negi did it!"

Satsuki told her she was doing a great job so far.

"But we've barely done anything yet. I can still screw up… What if everyone doesn't come back safe? What would Negi think if we had to leave someone behind? I don't want that…"

You're doing better than you think, Satsuki said. You've been watching out for everyone, caring for your friends. And that's all that matters.

"But Secchan is the one who's been telling everyone what to do, keeping guard with Kotaro. Those two are probably the best fighters out of all of us. But Eva chose Ayaka and I as the leaders! Heck, even Chizuru keeps everyone in line better than I do!" Konoka worried, pacing back and forth.

Being a leader isn't about giving out orders, being the strongest fighter, or controlling everyone, Satsuki went on. It's about caring for your comrades and putting them before everything else. It's something you do very well.

"Are you sure?" Konoka fretted.

Without a doubt, she replied. As they say, the best leaders have it thrust upon them. You'll do a great job. Don't try and compare yourself to Sensei, just be your own person.

"Okay, I'll try," Konoka said. "You give great advice, Satsuki." The chef just nodded and smiled, proffering a tray of _nikuman. _"Thank you," Konoka said politely, taking a bite. She chewed slowly, and her face suddenly brightened. "These are the sweetest and most delicious treats you have ever made!" She felt like she could take on the world.

Her job done, Satsuki Yotsuba returned to the inside of the whaleship.

* * *

Asphodel City was a rather seedy place, Konoka noted, as the whaleship docked. It was surprisingly large, but definitely old with people bustling through its streets. There were plenty of demons here, too – as the gateway between the Magic and Demonic worlds, this was a center of commerce. And while the citizens of Mundus Magicus didn't particularly like the demons, they were useful in a variety of jobs, from mercenaries to bodyguards, gladiators to gamblers, and many more.

Demons were allowed in the Magic World, but very few animal-people were allowed back in theirs. Humans weren't allowed at all.

"Everyone, make sure your cloaks are on," Ayaka told them. She put her own around her shoulders, hood up, but sharply recoiled. "Ugh! These things are filthy!"

"They are made to mask the scent of your human blood," Zazie informed her. Konoka noticed a faint magical aura around them. "Let us go. The ferry is this way."

Giving their farewells to Kris and Lyn, Ala Alba traversed through the demon city. All the girls and Kotaro were looked at oddly, huddling closely together in a group with drawn-up, blood red cloaks, but they were mostly ignored. All the shady types lived here.

Some of the demons they passed were the standard fare that most of them had already met in the Magic World at some point in their travels, so they were used to seeing them. Some demons could even be nice, friendly people, despite their horned, sometimes skeletal appearances, with skin of all different colors (if they had any). The ones in Asphodel, though, seemed to be the roughest of the lot.

It would only get worse once they entered the Demon Realm, Konoka knew.

Ala Alba was ready.


	5. Mundus Diabolus

**Author's Note: **I'm trying to avoid using some Japanese terms for this story unless it's a magic term, so the _youkai _type of demon that we've been introduced to in the series – namely, the type that Setsuna and Kotaro are – will be referred to as "lesser demons," or perhaps even "animal spirits," while _mazoku_, the other type of demon that Mana, the Rainyday sisters, and Graf Hermann are, will be called "higher demons" or "greater demons."

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the _Negima! Magister Negi Magi _series, or any of its translations, characters, settings, or otherwise; nor do I profit from anything concerning it.

_**Mundus Diabolus**_

**Chapter Four: Mundus Diabolus**

"What is this crap?" Yuna said angrily, as they stood in front of the ferry across the river Acheron. "All that build up, and we didn't even run into anyone from Fate's gang!"

"Why are you complaining?" Makie asked her disapprovingly. "I'd be afraid to see them again."

"Count your blessings," Setsuna said, from underneath the hood of her cloak. "We're lucky we didn't see them."

"But I totally thought we were gonna. Everyone was on their guard; we kept mentioning them and everything. What a let-down," she mumbled.

"So will we be okay with just these cloaks?" Akira asked quietly as they waited to board with a gaggle of hunched over demons hidden underneath grey robes. "I feel like getting into the Demon Realm is too easy."

"While it is illegal for humans," Zazie told her, "It happens so rarely that the security is surprisingly lax. Very few humans are foolish enough to try to get into Mundus Diabolus."

"That's reassuring," Misora threw in.

"Lots of demons take on human forms, too, so it's mostly just a matter of not smelling human," Kotaro explained.

The ferry they were about to board was wooden, appearing quite rotten to Konoka, but it was probably magical. The water itself seemed to have an otherworldly quality to it, despite being clearly polluted. "It feels like we're going into the Underworld," Konoka observed as she stepped onto the rocking boat. The wooden boards creaked as she walked over them.

"The Demon Realm is the reason for those myths," Zazie said. "Considering most humans die upon coming here, it is fairly accurate."

"Again, you're just making this sound like such a pleasant trip," Misora said, rolling her eyes.

"Who's that creepy old man?" Ako asked them quietly, pointing to a tall, black-cloaked, bearded man who stood a ways away from them. The old man turned to her, revealing that he had no eyes, just empty sockets in his skeletal head, with sallow, yellow skin stretched over his bones. Ako, the twins, Makie, and Sayo nearly shrieked in fear.

"Even if I'm blind, I can hear you quite well, you know," he said in a raspy voice. "I'm the ferryman. Is everyone ready to go?"

Aside from Ala Alba, the only other passengers were the group of hunched, robed people. They were staying close to each other, away from everyone else.

Hearing no answer, the old ferryman raised his arms and the old boat started crossing the river, by some unseen magical means. "I've never used the ferry to cross between worlds before," Zazie mentioned. "It is quite exciting." Despite that, she only had her usual, slight smile on her face, though her eyes seemed softer.

"How do you travel between worlds?" Ayaka asked, surprised. "That seems like quite a fearsome power."

"A few high-level demons like myself and my sister can do it," she answered. "The rest just take this ferry."

"Hey, why couldn't you just teleport us like she did to Negi and the others?" Madoka asked. "It'd save a lot of trouble."

"I'm not _that_ powerful," Zazie replied, and that was all she said on the matter.

Before long, the shores of the city of Asphodel were out of their sights, and for a while they were gliding silently through misty waters. Konoka could sense that Setsuna, Kotaro, and even Ayaka and Chachamaru were on edge, feeling like something would jump out of the mist and attack them at any moment. Konoka knew better, though. They were in the rift between worlds, where magic energy seemed to be greatest. It was a strange feeling. Everyone else was looking around with feelings of awe.

"I know that the Magic World uses Mars as its 'template,' so to speak," said Chizuru. "But where is the Demon World located?"

"It is on an entirely separate plane of existence altogether," Zazie answered. Konoka nodded. That seemed to be true.

"The mist is clearing!" Haruna pointed out, just as it all seemed to blow away in a sudden gust of wind. The world that had been revealed to them all was just as breathtaking as their first view of the Magic World, in its own separate way. The sky was dark, but the moon was large and bright – spreading silvery light even as a crescent. The night sky was starry, completely clear of the pollution in the Old World and even the Magic World, and clearer than Konoka had ever seen it.

Even from what she saw of the land from this distance, it seemed amazing in its own right. This part of the world was a desert, with pure white sand and reddish rock spires that shot straight up into the air.

"It's so pretty," Natsumi gasped. "Look at the moon!"

"Red rocks with white sand? Strange, that is geologically unlikely, if not impossible," Hakase noted. "Though geology is not my strong point, it could be possible that the red rocks are from a much older age, or the white sand was washed up by the sea. I should get samples of both and test the aging…"

"Stop sweating the details, scientist," Asakura told her, winking. "It's magic."

Just a few minutes later, the ferry bumped into the dock. Unlike in the Magic World, this was not a port city, or even any type of city at all. It was just a small cluster of tents – a shop, a man renting out a single bird-like creature for fast travel (who looked at the large group in shock and hid), and what seemed like a refreshment stand. This was more like an outpost than a port.

Ala Alba rushed to get onto the sandy shore, trying to get a better view of the desert outside of the outpost, while the other robed passengers quickly swept into the outside world. Before Konoka could step off onto solid ground, the ferryman grabbed her by the arm, his skeletal fingers having a surprisingly tight grip. Setsuna immediately drew her sword and held it at the man's neck.

"Let milady go," the _Shinmei-ryu_ swordswoman ordered.

"I am just giving the lovely young lady a healthy bit of advice," he said cheerfully, as the others caught up with what was going on. Konoka eyed the man fearlessly.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It is quite obvious that most of you are humans," he said immediately.

"So much for these smelly cloaks," Sakurako sighed.

"Strange. I thought they would be adequate," Zazie said with a noncommittal shrug, to which some of the others fumed.

"Be warned, though. The Demon King changed his laws. Humans are now allowed to come into our world as they please… but they will be hunted on sight, and you will receive no protections from the demon clans," the ferryman informed them. He let go of Konoka's arm. "Have a nice day."

"Thank you," Chachamaru replied politely, nonplussed, as the ferryman went back to his job, floating eerily across the river. Most of the girls, especially Ayaka, discarded the cloaks immediately.

"Now what?" Haruna asked. "We're gonna keep going, right?"

"That really changes our situation very little," Setsuna admitted.

"Of course we'll keep going," Konoka answered. "Zazie, lead the way!"

"Hell yeah!" Haruna cheered, but then looked to the refreshments stand. "If only Yue were here. She'd love to try some demon drinks."

Zazie held out her hand, and a paper scroll appeared in a flash of red light. She unfurled it, revealing a map of Mundus Diabolus. Konoka peered at it curiously. The world seemed strange, with levels of seemingly random elevation, environments, and towns. Some civilizations seemed concentrated on the tops of mountains, in deep caves, right in the middle of a desert, and one or two that were off the map, in the sea. "We are here," Zazie said, pointing to the southernmost tip of the map. "The Demon King's castle is here." She slid her finger to the very center of the map, which seemed to be strangely plain and boring in comparison with the rest of the world. It was just a flat, desolate land.

"But there are no towns there," Konoka observed. "No castles or anything. I can see other demon castles and towns all over the map, but why isn't there anything there?"

Zazie smirked. "The Demon King's location is secret. It is at this location on the map, but it is high up in the air. He is able to rule and do whatever he wants, but those who try to rebel against him cannot find where he is."

"Not a bad idea," Asakura mused.

"How are we supposed to get there?" Luna wondered. "So few of us can fly."

"See these four castles?" Zazie asked, pointing to the four landmarks on the map. They were perfectly the same distance away from where she said the Demon King's castle was, in each of the cardinal directions. "They are teleportation points, each protected by the Four Great Demon Lords," she explained. "The Frozen Sovereign of the North, the Chaotic Nightfall of the South, the Western Archmage of Plague, and the Eastern Count of Ancient Bane."

"Those sound terrifying," Misa said fearfully, as the twins clutched both her shoulders.

"We… don't have to fight them, do we? We can just sneak up to the teleportation points, right?" Natsumi asked.

"Theoretically, no," Zazie answered. "Which is fortunate. Though I cannot imagine that the Demon Lords would let us use their telepoints freely. We will have to use your stealth artifact and hope they do not notice us."

"We only need to go to one of the castles, right?" Konoka asked. "And that would be the southern one, since we're closest to it."

"That would be best," Zazie agreed. "The Chaotic Nightfall."

"With our track record, we'll probably end up fighting all of them, _and _the Demon King," Yuna said dryly. "It's not gonna be like how much we kept mentioning Fate's gang, only to completely miss them…"

"You know, something tells me you _want_ us in as much danger as possible," Ayaka said to her, annoyed. "You enjoy fighting too much."

"I can relate," Kotaro said with a grin.

"What can I say? Makes things more exciting," Yuna admitted.

"You're becoming more and more like that monkey Asuna," Ayaka shot at her.

"Now, now, no fighting," Chizuru told them. "So, we're heading directly north from here, right?"

"Yes," Setsuna said. "Let's get moving."

"Walking that far through sand?" Fuka complained. "No camels or anything?"

"It should be no longer than four days," Zazie said, as they left the outpost to the relief of the tiny handful of demons there. "Stay together. Wander off, and you may fall into a sand pit, which many believe leads to an endless abyss where the oldest demons are said to reside."

"Oh, that doesn't sound so bad," said Misora sarcastically.

"Chizuru, I will rely on you to determine our position based on the stars at certain points," the demon guide told her.

"I'll try my best," she responded. "Hmm… The night sky isn't as different as I thought it would be."

The group trooped along silently from there, mostly focused on the environment around them. High in the night sky, some of them were able to spot dark shapes moving, which were too far away to be a threat. On the rock spires, bat-like creatures flapped their wings, claiming them as their territory. And, occasionally, snakelike, bony creatures moved through the desert sand, blending in so well that they were getting uncomfortably close.

"I sense a high concentration of organic entities moving to our location," Chachamaru said suddenly. "They are quite numerous. Everyone, prepare for a sudden attack."

"Should I use my artifact?" Natsumi asked, slightly panicked.

"We got this," Kotaro said, standing protectively in front of her and Chizuru. "Satsuki, Ako, Akira, Asakura – get in the middle of everyone."

"Do not be alarmed," Zazie said. "They are numerous, but we should be able to handle them. They are low level _youkai_, or lesser demons."

Setsuna abruptly flipped away as a gigantic sword – bigger than even Asuna's artifact – crashed into where she was standing, ripping up an explosion of sand. Holding it was a humanoid girl, raven-haired, looking no older than they were, but she had large, black wings on her back.

"The Bird Tribe!" Setsuna cried, as a dozen more flew up on all sides of Ala Alba, wielding all kinds of crude weapons.

"The Cursed One!" the girl with the huge sword snarled, pulling her weapon effortlessly from the sand. "You have the white wings! You were exiled! Why have you come here?"

"I knew they were humans when I smelled them on the ferry," another one cackled.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the Magic World?" Setsuna asked. To Konoka, she looked more distressed than she had ever seen her. "That was where I was born!"

"Bah! That dying world?" another bird demon, this one a large male, cawed. "All the lesser demon clans have come to Mundus Diabolus now."

"Is that so?" Zazie asked of no one in particular. "That is news to me. I am sorry, Setsuna."

"It's not your problem," the white-winged half-demon replied, settling into a stance.

"Do I have permission to attack them? They could be your family," Zazie said.

"They're not my family."

"Very well." Just like her sister did all those years ago, Zazie's fingers elongated into deadly blades, as she, too, bent low into her own stance.

"Father, do I have permission to rend her to pieces?" the girl demon asked, her beady eyes glinting.

"Yes, Scythia," the older one responded. "Archers, fire on her human allies!" The ones they could see continued to flank Ala Alba on all sides, flapping their wings in place, while a rain of arrows soared from the sand dunes behind them.

"Misa!" Konoka called.

"I'm on it!" the former cheerleader shouted. "Bonjour Jou Ero Lore!" she muttered her activation key. "Evocatio Spiritualis Contegis! Nobis Protectionem! Limes Navitas!" _("I Summon the Shield Spirits! Bestow Your Protection Upon Us! Energy Barrier!")_ An enormous, vibrantly green barrier covered the members of Ala Alba from harm, held up by Misa's magic power. "Heh… They were magically charged arrows, too," she said, as they bounced harmlessly off of her shield. Before lowering her protections, she made sure everyone had called forth their artifacts and were ready to fight.

Ako closed her eyes, drawing up her own magic reserves as she held her needle. She outstretched one hand. "Practe Bigi Nar," she mumbled. "Cantus Bellax Per Omni!" _("Battle Song For All!") _ Using her skill with supporting magic, she spread the effect out to all of her allies. "Anyone want a shot from my needle?" she asked, but she stuck it into Madoka, the closest person, before she could protest. Cringing in pain, the former cheerleader was now boosted by Ako's artifact, her support spell, Kotaro's magic from the contract, and her own Ki abilities all at once.

Sakurako stepped forward, wearing a sleek, classy dress from her pactio with Misa. "Artifact… Fortuna Numera," she said, as the magic playing cards from her deck spun around her. Magically, one of them split off from the rest, coming to a stop in front of her. "Five of Diamonds. Multiply Ako's spell by five!" she called, as everyone felt empowered fivefold.

Outside of Misa's shield, Setsuna was in close combat with the bird demon named Scythia, her white wings unfurled. Konoka started drawing up her magic, feeling her fingertips tingle. "Lower the barrier," she said.

"Here we go!" Misa called, dismissing the spell. Misora immediately disappeared in a flash, momentarily appearing above one of the flying bird demons to deliver an axe kick, sending him plummeting to the earth. As soon as he was down, she disappeared again, heading in the direction of the archers. Zazie swiped her claws at two demons at once, and they were down in fountains of blood before they could even register what happened.

Sayo, not even bothering with her artifact yet, made a gripping motion in the direction of more bird demons as they appeared, telekinetically ripping their weapons from their hands and proceeding to bash them over their heads. She was forced to dodge a scythe of wind, sending her careening to the side, but Misa managed to erect another barrier to block it.

"They've got mages!" Misa yelled.

"I'll deal with them!" Sayo said confidently, flying past the bird warriors to get to the mages and archers in back. The ghost girl spotted Misora as the nun randomly flashed into existence to deliver momentum-enhanced kicks to the back line, accompanied by the occasional lightning strike. With her artifact and expert ground and air contraction, Misora was impossible to see as she moved, even by the skilled eyes of Setsuna and Kotaro.

Determined not to be outdone, Sayo flew into the body of one of the archers, possessing his soul. Controlling his movements, she turned on a bird mage just as he was about to fire a capturing spell at Misora. She tackled the mage with all the force the archer's body had to offer, knocking him out of the air. She grabbed hold of the archer's consciousness, knocking him out and leaving his body.

"I'll help out Sayo!" Haruna declared, brandishing her Imperium Graphices artifact. In just seconds, a high-level golem taking the form of a Valkyrie joined Sayo and Misora in battle. Luna approached her from behind with a hint of timidity.

"Artifact… Signum Bioregens," Luna whispered, holding the bookmark that appeared in her hand. "I am sorry, Haruna."

"Wait, what? No! No, no, no, no, no!"

Before she could properly resist, Luna kissed her right on the lips, enveloping both girls in smoke. When it cleared, there were two Harunas.

"Why me?" the original Haruna moaned, wiping her mouth.

"I figured your artifact would be most suited to the situation," Luna-Haruna said. "Adeat!"

"We are in a bad position," said Ayaka, standing in the middle of all the attacks, where Ala Alba's noncombatants also were. Madoka, Sakurako, and Yuna were standing protectively in front of Satsuki, Ako, Akira, Natsumi, Chizuru, and Asakura. Madoka dealt with the warrior demons as they tried to come and attack her up close, while Sakurako and Yuna used their artifacts for long-range attacks.

"Jack's Lance!" the gambler yelled, as a Jack of Spades turned into dual long spears and knocked another pair of demons out of the sky.

"Shoot the Enemy!" Yuna muttered her own spell activation key. "Contendo Cum Glacialis!" _("I Shoot With Ice!") _Infused with the power of ice, upon being shot from her gun the bullets froze her enemies in geysers of frost.

"I can't reach them unless they come close!" Madoka said, gripping her heavy axe. "I don't want to leave everyone unprotected."

"Please don't," Asakura said, brandishing a practice wand.

Ayaka rushed forward, barehanded, using only her well-practiced Aikido as her weapon. Using Ki, she pushed herself up into the air, slamming an open palm into a bird demon's solar plexus before he could swing his sword. Once that one was dealt with, another demon wielding a hand axe rushed her, thinking she was defenseless as she fell, but she managed to deliver a high-powered kick that sent the bird demon soaring in the other direction. "It _is _tedious to have to jump up to hit them, though," she admitted as she landed easily on the ground. "They are keeping their distance, even the close-combat fighters. It seems they bit off more than they could chew when dealing with us."

"Not my problem!" Kotaro jeered, throwing out his hand as his dark wolf spirits converged on the demons above, felling them effortlessly. He partially transformed himself into his dog form, howling with joy.

"A dog demon!" Scythia's father reappeared, the apparent leader, his dark wings barely flapping as he flew, clearly supporting himself through some kind of magic power. As he opened his mouth again, it started to transform into a beak. His arms merged with his wings, ending in talons, while his feet became equally sharp. "I will be your opponent."

"Let's go!" Kotaro challenged, going right into the battle.

Wielding their practice wands, both Akira and Asakura chanted. "Practe Bigi Nar…"

"…Inundantia Aquarians!" _("Watery Flood!") _Akira shouted.

"…Fulguratio Albicans!" _("White Lightning!")_ Asakura yelled. "Heh, even we can use magic to defend ourselves sometimes, no?" Akira's water spell and Asakura's lightning spell clashed with enemies on both sides of them, taking more birds out of the air.

"I'll bring 'em down!" Misa called, holding up her staff. Large, black, heavily dense orbs appeared above the heads of several of the birds, bringing them crashing into the sand. "That's gravity magic for you."

"That's better," said Hakase, who was wearing what looked like a steel backpack instead of her regular, spatially distorting one. Upon pressing a button on her shoulder, metal arms and legs jutted out of her back, lifting her up and encasing her in armor. The arms and legs thickened, turning the scientist into a metal hulk. "How's this for a humongous mecha? I turned my whole body into a weapon! _This_ is the power of science!" She proceeded to fire rockets from her shoulders and swat any demons out of the air that were foolish enough to come near her.

"Splendid, Hakase," Chachamaru complimented, blasting more and more demons with her lasers and using her jet propulsion to bring herself up into close combat. Makie, below her, brought her enemies down to the ground with her ribbon, where she proceeded to take them out with either her clubs or her bombing ball, seemingly dancing as she did it.

"There's so many!" the gymnast said. "They keep on coming! Some of them are getting pretty tough!"

Once they were down on the ground, Ayaka's eyes glinted as she held her wires in her hands. She gripped them tightly as, suddenly, dozens of demons around her became constricted.

"What is this human magic?" a few of the demons asked, panicked, as her nearly invisible wires trapped them. Ayaka simply tugged, pulling them all towards her at once, where she proceeded to beat them all senseless in seconds.

"That is how you take out multiple enemies at once," Ayaka said, congratulating herself. "You would be proud, Master!"

Konoka, separated from most of the others, was dealing with the bulk of the bird demons along with Fuka and Fumika, acting as artillery. "Halo La Fae O May," Konoka recited her activation key. "Divina Iudicia!" _("Divine Judgment!") _Holding her hands up high, a solid beam of light was blasted from her fingertips, which weaved throughout her enemies and burned them out of the sky.

"We'll even the playing field," the twins said together, joining hands. "Om. Kiri Kiri, Basara. Um-hatta," they chanted, as circular glyphs appeared on the sand around them and started to glow. At least two dozen _oni_ began to appear from the ground, horned and dangerous.

"Summoned into our own world, huh?" one of the summoned demons asked. "Whatever. Let's fight, boys!"

"Thanks!" Fuka said cheerfully. She pulled a slip of paper from her billowing black sleeves. "Paper charm, paper charm! Take down the bad guys!" The seal on the paper started to burn, engulfing a group of bird demons in a miniature inferno.

"Fuka, look out!" Konoka yelled, about to throw a series of light arrows in her direction before a bird demon could impale her with a spear. However, a fiery spirit intercepted the blow, punching the demon right across the face. It was Fuka's _zenki_, or virtuous demon. Once again, Konoka was impressed by the versatility of the eastern magic. With demon summoning, paper charms, and personal _zenki_ and _goki_ demons used to protect them, Konoka almost wished she furthered her own skills with the magic style.

"Thanks, Ifrit!" the _Onymodo_ mage said to her _zenki_.

"Don't get distracted now," Fumika told her, spotting another set of demons heading toward her sister. She drew three slips of paper out of her billowing white sleeves. "Paper charm, paper charm! Protect the good guys!" The charms flew in front of her twin sister, erecting a shimmering, triangular golden barrier to protect Fuka.

Fuka's Ifrit joined the summoned demons on the front line as they took down more bird opponents, while Shiva, Fumika's _goki_, or defensive demon, protected the twins. She took the form of a beautiful spirit of ice.

Setsuna grit her teeth as she blocked the enormous weapon of Scythia, her bird demon opponent. Their battle was in the air and on the ground – she couldn't escape her. It was much different from fighting Tsukuyomi, who preferred lithe, fast attacks that penetrated her defenses. Instead, Scythia used slow, powerful strikes with her sword, not unlike the way Asuna fought.

"Aside from my father, I'm the best fighter in the clan," Scythia crowed, blocking Setsuna's stab with the flat of her blade and making a swipe with one of her talons.

"Then that means everyone else is weaker than you! It is quite relieving." Setsuna replied. "Zanmaken: Ni no tachi!"

"Don't underestimate me!" the bird woman screeched. "You half-blood! Your white wings disgust me!" Her mouth elongated and hardened into a beak, while feathers formed over her skin. "I hate you! I hate you! You're going to die!"

Holding her Yunagi with one hand, she gripped her two pactio cards with her other. "Adeat," she said calmly, ignoring her opponent's words. In one hand, she held her _Shinmei-ryu_ blade, her artifact from Konoka in the other, while Negi's sixteen flying knives orbited her as she flew. "I will fight you with everything I have."

"Look below you," Scythia said, suddenly jubilated. Setsuna complied, seeing multiple bird demon mages standing in a circle, a magical sign glowing in the center of them. It was a summoning circle.

"What is that?" Setsuna asked, constantly on her guard.

"Your death," she replied, feral. Setsuna was about to descend to stop whatever they were doing, but her opponent held out her enormous sword, blocking her.

It was too late, anyway.

A monstrous shape formed, with enormous wings and a long, fleshy neck. It was black and feathery, with dark, beady eyes and a beak as sharp and deadly as any sword. It cawed upon being summoned, releasing the putrid stench of hundreds of rotten bodies, which Setsuna could smell even from high in the air.

"Meet our clan's patron deity," Scythia introduced. "Hagetakashin, the Vulture God."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Okay, sorry if this chapter seemed cluttered. I was trying to give you all a preview of Ala Alba's powers. This is the last time they'll all be together like this in a huge battle royale (erm, with the possible exception of a bit of the next chapter). Now for some pactio card information…

Name: Madoca Cugimija (Madoka Kugimiya) (XI)

Title: Executor Virgo, the Maiden Executioner

Partner: Kotaro Inugami

Artifact: Securis Vibratio, the Vibrating Axe. It takes the form of a huge battle-axe, and when she strikes her enemies with it, the shockwaves usually disarm them, if not disorient. She can also strike the ground for her own miniature earthquakes.

Tonus: Purpura (Purple)

Virtus: Temperantia (Temperance)

Directio: Occidens (West)

Astralitas: Neptunus (Neptune)

Name: Sacuraco Shiina (Sakurako Shiina) (XVII)

Title: Her title is Hilaratrix Fortunans, taken from Akamatsu's unofficial card, but it's a bit different than just increasing luck.

Partner: Misa Kakizaki

Artifact: Bit of an all-rounder type. Using her artifact, Fortuna Numera (Lucky Number), a deck of cards, different things happen depending on what cards she draws. She draws the standard 1-10 cards when one of her allies casts a spell, whether offensive, defensive, or supportive. The card she picks is random, but the number determines how much the effect of that spell is multiplied. The suit of the card determines what part of the spell is changed – Diamonds multiplies the potency, Spades the area of effect, Hearts reduces the magic energy required to cast, and clubs reduces casting speed. When she draws a Jack (of Spades, especially), her card turns into spears that are launched at her enemy. For a Queen (of Hearts, preferably) her card turns into a shield to protect her allies. For a King (of Diamonds), they turn into swords. Drawing an ace is a bust, no matter what she is trying to do.

Tonus: Luteum (Orange)

Virtus: Audacia (Courage)

Directio: Centrum (Center)

Astralitas: Sol (Sun)

Those are the two artifact descriptions you're getting for now (the others being the ones belonging to Chizuru and Sayo, and maybe some others later...). Please review!


	6. Bird Tribe and Dog Tribe

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the _Negima! Magister Negi Magi _series, or any of its translations, characters, settings, or otherwise; nor do I profit from anything concerning it.

_**Mundus Diabolus**_

**Chapter Five: Bird Tribe and Dog Tribe**

"Hagetakashin…" Setsuna muttered to herself. The Vulture God. She vaguely remembered myths of the creature from her childhood. The Bird Tribe's patron deity, and their greatest weapon. Konoka and the others couldn't handle it alone. Her two swords gripped in her hands, her sixteen knives flying all around her, she adjusted her wings and attempted to fly down to help her friends.

"You're not going anywhere!" Scythia screeched, blocking her path again. The young Bird Tribe girl hefted her huge sword with ease, her raven hair and feathers tied back, draped in the traditional clothes of her people.

"Out of my way," Setsuna said calmly, drawing on more of Konoka's magic power. The central orb of her Takemikazuchi crackled with energy, causing the entire sword to grow in size, dwarfing Scythia's own weapon. Before she could register what was happening, Setsuna struck her sword against Scythia's, knocking the girl away and giving her time to join the rest of Ala Alba on the ground. In just moments, Scythia was lost in the flurry of black wings as she was surrounded by more of her own kind, but Setsuna's Sica Shishikuro cut them all out of the air.

Like a beacon, Setsuna's white wings were calling them all to her.

She managed to land on the ground, her weapons still out and ready, as she rushed to look for Konoka. The Vulture God summoning ritual was not fully complete yet – they still had time. She had no idea how, but they had to attempt to escape. But in a desert, was there anywhere to hide? It seemed as if every Bird Demon to ever exist was on this battlefield. Was this how much they hated Setsuna? Was she this bad of an omen? Or were they doing this as a result of the Demon King's laws?

She found Konoka and the others all in a tight circle, warding off the bird demons the best they could. Kotaro was the only one who was separate, locked in fierce combat with Scythia's father, the chief of this Bird Tribe.

"Secchan! Are you okay?" Konoka asked her worriedly, as they parted to let her into their tight circle. Out of everyone, only Zazie seemed completely unharmed, not even being winded, but nobody had any serious wounds. They were skilled enough to avoid that for the time being, but if they were tiring…

"I'm fine," Setsuna responded. "But things don't look too good. They've summoned the Vulture God to deal with us."

"We have to fight off a god?" Makie asked in a minor panic.

"I daresay that we should be able to handle it," Zazie said, her metallic claws reflecting the light of the moon. "But only if we attack together."

"If only we could keep the rest of these pesky bird people out of the battle," Ayaka said through grit teeth, using her puppetry to set up a living wall of bird demons – an extra line of defense.

"How about a formal challenge?" Asakura suggested. "A gladiator-style match. It's our best bet."

Setsuna closed her eyes, trying to remember. "It is one of their oldest traditions," she said. "But there is one important rule."

"What is it?" Natsumi asked.

She spread her white wings out fully. "I will handle the Vulture God myself," she declared, leaping back into the air.

"What? Are you crazy?" Yuna exclaimed.

"Nah, I think she knows what she's doing," Misora said with a grin.

"Secchan…" Konoka worried for her closest friend. Her _Shinmei-ryu _techniques were handled for taking down demons – but what would they do against a god?

Setsuna flew to the battle between Kotaro and the Chief, gesturing to her half dog-demon ally to step back while she held her Yunagi forward. "Chief of the Bird Tribe," she said loudly, stopping him from attacking. "I challenge the Hagetakashin to single combat."

The battle all around her – the flurry of bird wings, the calls of war, the blasts of magic – all immediately halted.

"No one has fought the Hagetakashin in single combat and survived," the Chief stated, landing calmly on the ground.

"I will do it," she affirmed. "But only on the condition that you let myself and all of my companions have safe passage through Mundus Diabolus. I am well aware of my position of exile – we are just passing through this realm."

His talon scratched his feathered chin for a moment. "Very well. The punishment for exiled demons returning to their homeland is to be fed to the patron deity anyway, so this just makes things easier for all of us."

Setsuna nodded, giving one look to Konoka before turning around and heading for the Vulture God. She tried to appear as confident as possible.

"Do you think she can do it?" Chizuru asked the other Ala Alba members worriedly. "I'm not great with combat, but that thing is a monster…"

"Can she kill a god?" Akira asked fearfully.

"It is not a god in the traditional sense," Zazie told them. "It is not an omnipotent, omniscient being. Many of the lesser demon tribes take on patron deities – just greater nature spirits that are all over the Demon World and Magic World. I'm positive the Old World even has a few hiding in the darkest places. The Hagetakashin is not a war spirit, despite how the Bird Demons use it. Setsuna may be able to defeat it."

"What'll happen to their tribe if they lose their patron deity?" Makie asked, biting her finger.

"Your worrying is misplaced," Yuna said to her deprecatingly.

"They'll probably find a new one," Kotaro answered, coming over to them slightly worse for wear. "Should be a good battle to watch, either way."

"Is that all you care about?" Natsumi shouted at him angrily.

"Eh, she can handle it."

Setsuna slowly approached the Vulture God, listening to the jeers of the Bird Tribesmen as they cheered for her execution. The creature singled her out, drawn to her white wings, as the magic chains binding it in place by its summoners were being released. As soon as the chains fell, the bird mages hurried to join their kin in the safety of the crowd that surrounded the two combatants, like a cage. The Hagetakashin stretched to its full height, giving a loud warble of challenge in Setsuna's direction, almost like a roar. Immediately, the _Shinmei-ryu _swordswoman was hit with the stench of its putrid breath, causing her to recoil slightly.

The Vulture God got a running start, spreading its massive wings and charging at her with its deadly beak, but Setsuna unfurled her own wings and took to the air, trying to attack it from above. Her Takemikazuchi grew to enormous sizes, rippling with Konoka's magic energy, as she attempted to cleave the creature in the neck to end the fight quickly. To her chagrin, an invisible force deflected her blow.

"A natural wind barrier!" Setsuna cursed. The vulture threw its head back, just narrowly missing her much smaller body, but she rose to a higher altitude to use a technique that would hopefully break its defenses.

The vulture lifted its massive girth from the ground and joined her in the perpetual night sky, opening its beaks to let loose another roar. Unlike before, this was followed by a tornado fired from its mouth, which Setsuna barely managed to avoid, but it carried along with it the heavy smell of carrion. As it flew toward her to follow up its attack, Setsuna dove underneath it, but didn't plan on its feet to be used as powerful weapons. One of its talons managed to slice her arm, while she used her Takemikazuchi to block the other, though the force behind its legs nearly sent her to the ground.

Ignoring the pain, Setsuna gestured upward with her Yunagi, sending her sixteen Sica Shishikuro to surround the beast, which stabbed into the wind barrier on all sides. "Cage of Entwined Lightning!" Setsuna called, as each of the knives delivered a fierce electric shock to the creature. The knives had gotten inside the wind barriers, so she was counting on it to at least hurt the vulture a little, but it did nothing. Undeterred, Setsuna swung her Yunagi, gathering Ki in her blade. "Zanmaken: One Thousand Sickle Moon Petals!" The shockwave from her blade produced Ki in the shape of innumerable shards, taking the shape of a crescent that slammed into the Hagetakashin's barrier. Not giving it a chance to orient itself, Setsuna stabbed forward with her Takemikazuchi, now reduced to its regular size. "Barrier-Breaking Flower Lance!"

The long-range attack took the shape of a javelin as it cut through the sky and crushed the damaged wind barrier. Before it could reform, Setsuna rushed blindly into the smoke that surrounded the beast, resisting the smell of its breath.

"Such power!" the Chief exclaimed. "Impossible! For a half-blood to be so strong…!"

"Did she do it?" Ako asked, her hands joined, as Setsuna disappeared into the cloud of smoke, black feathers, and her own Ki attacks. Konoka stood resolutely, waiting, hoping for Setsuna to emerge…

Finally, she did, flying out of the smoke, wielding all of her weapons. The vulture was still flying – whatever she did wasn't enough to finish it off.

"She's covered in blood!" Sakurako gasped. Konoka, horrified, could see the gash along her torso even from so far away.

"Its beak looks like it got her," Chachamaru observed. "I cannot tell how deep the wound is from here…"

"Look! The vulture's eye!" Haruna pointed out. The Hagetakashin's face was a bloody mess itself – one of its eyes was missing. "That's gotta hurt."

Setsuna dismissed her artifacts, holding her hand to her wound in an attempt to staunch the blood, though the wound on her arm from the creature's talon was still gushing blood itself. Looking closely, the skin around the gash on her arm appeared to be infected. "Already?" she asked herself quietly, feeling a sudden tiredness. The flapping of her wings slowed and the wound on her chest burned. The Vulture God flew toward her, intent on finishing her off. She lifted her Yunagi, feeling weak. Somehow, she managed to parry its beak, but the forced pushed her back. Unable to stop herself, she plummeted to the ground.

"Setsuna Sakurazaki has been rendered unable to battle," the Chief declared, appearing relieved. "Let the Hagetakashin feast!"

"No way!" Kotaro yelled in shock. "Get up!" he urged her.

"Secchan!" Konoka cried, running forward to protect her best friend, just as a series of tribesmen tried to converge on her. She wordlessly threw magic arrows at the demons that flew toward Setsuna, then stood protectively over her. "You're not hurting her!"

"You can't interfere!" Scythia shrieked. "Whatever, the Hagetakashin will eat you both!" The Vulture God, circling them from above, suddenly dove. Konoka knelt down next to Setsuna, trying to shield her with her own body.

Right before the vulture could impale them both, a loud _bang _blasted Konoka's ears, nearly pushing her against the ground and Setsuna. She managed to look up, seeing Zazie hovering over both of them, two horns sticking out of her forehead. Bat wings had sprouted on her hips. Floating over her was a demonic entity, garbed in what appeared to be a black cloak woven of magic itself that draped protectively over Zazie's back. The demon itself had a strangely angelic, white face, though the rest of its body seemed to be covered in the same black substance as the cloak. Finally, the demon had scythe-like hands, which were holding the Vulture God at bay.

"I'm afraid your tribesmen interfered first," Zazie said calmly, a mandala barrier visible around her body. The demon entity, eyes permanently shut, opened its mouth. A beautiful hymn issued from her throat, which Konoka could not understand, and an immense amount of magical energy focused in her mouth. It suddenly exploded outward in a solid beam, hitting the Vulture God dead-on and causing it to shriek in pain.

"One of the Greater Demonfolk!" the Chief bellowed in fear.

"The same kind of eldritch powers as her sister?" Haruna exclaimed, eyes wide. "It's quite a bit smaller, though…"

Zazie's attack engulfed the Vulture God in a beam of light, blasting it away from them. Immediately, Ala Alba exploded into action, firing spells and attacking the flock of birds, opening a path to escape in the frenzy of their Vulture God being seriously wounded. "Konoka, we have to leave. Now's our chance. The Vulture God is dismissing itself."

"I only have a few minutes to heal Secchan. That vulture was deadlier than it looked – her wounds are all infected already, so I have to heal her now before she dies!" she asserted.

"The Vulture God had powers of decay," Zazie observed. "I should have suspected as much." The demon creature sliced its scythe-like arms through the air, slashing any bird demons foolish enough to come close. "I will cover you until she is healed."

"Don't worry, Konoka… I will use my Ki to halt my bodily functions," Setsuna told her. "We need to get out of here."

"No way! You sound just like Negi. I'm healing you right here and now," Konoka responded. She pulled her pactio card from her sleeve, despite Setsuna's protests. "Adeat! Artifacts Flabellum Euri et Flabellum Australe!" Closing her eyes, she chanted an ancient Japanese rite, causing both of their bodies to glow.

Kotaro hurled himself at one of the bird demons, his claws slashing his weapon away, while he punched forward with his other hand. Wolf spirits surrounded his fist, giving his punch the power of his shadow magic. As the demon fell, he turned to his next opponent, only for another to attack him with the demon tribe's own brand of magic, the bird spirits. The attack was weak compared to his own, though, so he just swept it aside, annoyed.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" he groaned, forcing a way through so Ala Alba could escape. "There's so many!"

As he spoke, a spear of shadow impaled one of the bird demons about to attack him, while more shadows appeared in the sand. As Kotaro motionlessly gaped, wolf men were appearing from the shadows, some wielding weapons while others were accompanied by spirits. Kotaro's own wolf spirit seemed restless, as if it itched to run with the pack as they took down Bird Demons.

Natsumi gasped. "Those are…"

"The Dog Tribe!" Scythia hissed, swinging her massive sword at the new enemies.

"What… The Dog Tribe?" For the first time in a long time, Kotaro was speechless.

"Move, Kotaro!" Madoka yelled at him. "Now's our chance to get out of here!"

"Wait!" An older, wild-haired wolf man appeared out of a shadow portal in front of them. "We'll take you," he said, as more shadows opened up on all sides of Ala Alba. "Come with us." All of the girls looked at Kotaro questioningly.

"Sounds like a good idea, Kotaro," Ayaka said to him.

"Fine," Kotaro replied, more stunned than anything. He watched as his fellow Dog Demons grabbed onto his friends and guided them into the shadows. "Unreal…" he said, as all of them disappeared at once. He grabbed Natsumi's hand, the only one left, and followed their trail.

"Are you okay, Secchan?" Konoka asked, still in the middle of the battlefield with her and Zazie. Setsuna nodded thankfully, still breathing deeply.

"It seems aid has come to us from an unexpected place," Zazie stated. "Kotaro and the others have disappeared with the Dog Tribe."

"I'll take you," a dog girl approached, leaping to their side. She seemed older than all of them, but wore a confident smirk, like Kotaro's. "My name's Kai. Kinda crazy to meet a Greater Demon!"

"I am afraid the small talk will have to wait until we are out of the battlefield," Zazie said flatly.

"Oh, yeah, right," Kai said sheepishly. She held out her arms to Konoka and Setsuna. "Grab on." Without hesitating, they did, and the lesser demon girl sunk into her own shadow with them.

* * *

Many shadow teleportations later, Konoka and Setsuna finally came to a rest outside a wooden gate, flaming braziers standing on either side of the opening. The rest of her friends appeared as if they had just arrived as well – even Zazie, who had gotten there by her own unknown means. She was back in her regular form now.

"Is everyone okay?" Konoka asked immediately, once she had regained her bearings from the multiple shadow jumps. They had crossed an incredible distance in a very short period of time. "Are we all here?" The Dog Demons that had brought them all were already disappearing into their own shadows again, aside from the woman named Kai and another older man.

"Everyone's accounted for," Ayaka answered immediately, her own Class Representative habits kicking in. Nodding, Konoka assessed their surroundings. They were in the mountains on a narrow pass surrounded on both sides by grey rock. The wooden gates seemed to lead to a village.

"That was quite dizzying," Luna spoke, holding onto her head.

Asakura was the only one who seemed even the slightest bit suspicious. "Why did you help us?" At her words, Konoka remembered the law passed by the Demon King, ordering any humans in Mundus Diabolus to be killed on sight. She stood up immediately with Setsuna, Ayaka, Chachamaru, and Yuna. Kotaro seemed to be in a daze.

"'An enemy of my enemy is a friend'," the dog man quoted. He was the one who appeared before Kotaro, and seemed to be a leader of sorts. "Even though you're humans, whatever you did angered the Bird Tribes," he said. "It's not often that they'd rally half of their entire tribe up to kill a bunch of humans. And you even wounded their greatest weapon against us! We've got lots to be thankful for."

"Since when are the Bird and Dog Tribes enemies?" Setsuna asked, her eyes narrow.

"A lot of the lesser clans are," the man continued. "Ever since the Arcana family declared war on the Demon King, everyone's been taking sides. We're loyal to the Demon King!"

Ala Alba was silent.

Kai walked over to Kotaro, putting her beastly arm around his shoulder and pushing her face against his. "You guys brought little Kota back, too!" she said cheerfully.

"Wha? You know me, old lady?" Kotaro recoiled. Her demeanor instantly changed.

"Old lady?" she growled.

"Kotaro, you idiot," Misa said into her hand, shaking her head.

"Hah," the man chuckled. "You don't remember your big bro and sis, Kota?"

The half dog-demon blinked. "I have siblings?"

"Of course you do! It's me, Kiba!" the man shouted happily, clapping him on the back with his clawed hand.

"Well, he was a little baby," Kai admitted. "Ugly, human-looking thing."

"Pretty impressive in battle now, though!" Kiba went on. "C'mon, let's go into the village. You guys all look like you need some rest."

Konoka looked at the others, who returned her stare, so she simply shrugged and followed the Dog Demons into their village. As they walked through the gates into the shoddy place, they were able to spot Dog Demons of all ages in their wooden huts, eyeing the humans suspiciously. Only Kiba and Kai seemed welcoming. Both had their arms around Kotaro, jabbering to him about how much he had grown and how exciting the battle with the Bird Tribe was, as he followed along in confusion.

They were led to a wooden hut that clearly dwarfed all the rest, draped in dark mats that displayed the symbol of the Dog Tribe. "Look's like the head honcho's place," Asakura noted.

"Yep," Kai affirmed. "Our dad, the chief."

"Dad…" Kotaro said under his breath, looking at the entrance to the hut. Konoka looked at him sympathetically. Kotaro, like Setsuna, never talked about his birth family, or even expressed any desire to find them. She had no idea how he must have felt.

A furry form suddenly burst through the hut's entrance, lunging at Kiba and Kai and bringing them both to the ground. Ala Alba drew back, surprised and expecting to have to fight, but the huge Dog Demon that emerged was only intent on beating the two siblings.

"How – dare – you – bring – humans – and – a _Bird girl_ – to – our – village?" he roared, slamming them against the ground. Setsuna cringed.

"You should've seen them, Dad!" Kiba shouted in protest, defending himself from the blows. "They wounded the Hagetakashin!"

"And they've got Kota and a Greater Demon with them!" Kai threw in. His hand around both of their necks, the Dog Chief halted.

"Kiba, you will never be Chief if you continue to disobey my orders," he said, now calm, but still harsh. Kotaro's half-brother averted his golden eyes.

"The Bird Tribe girl was the one who fought the Hagetakashin," Kiba said. "We should be in debt to her."

The Chief looked straight at Setsuna, seemingly ignoring Kotaro's presence. Sensing her surprise at being picked out so quickly, he explained. "I can smell the bird on you. I suppose we owe you a little bit of thanks. That has been their greatest weapon in battle." She simply nodded in response. He focused his eyes on Zazie next. "And you, judging by your appearance and smell, are the missing daughter of the Demon King. It is an honor to be in your presence." Kiba, Kai, and the majority of Ala Alba immediately hung their mouths open.

"What the heck? Why didn't you tell us something like that before?" Misa demanded.

"You never asked," Zazie responded, nonplussed. Konoka stared at her former classmate wonderingly. She was even willing to go against her own family to save Negi?

"Does that mean you and that Poyo girl are demon princesses?" Sayo asked in awe, to which Zazie simply nodded.

"Our class was crazy, no matter which way you put it," Fuka muttered. Satsuki agreed.

"The missing daughter?" Kiba questioned. "Where've you been all this time?"

"I became a citizen of the Old World, as you can see by my human friends," Zazie replied. "Can we go ahead to the next topic?"

"She called us her friends!" Fumika whispered excitedly.

"As you wish," said the Chief. "I respect the Demon King's laws, but these humans are under your protection. They shall not be harmed."

"Thank you," Zazie said with a curt nod.

"They're pretty strong, for a group of humans," Kai said. "I dunno what they're in Mundus Diabolus for, but they don't seem stupid."

"Gee, thanks," Misora muttered.

"Anyone fighting against the Demon King's enemies is alright in my book," Kiba said with a grin.

"Tell us more about this war," Asakura said, eager to gather information. "What's the Arcana family?"

"They were another family of high class demons," the Chief explained. "But for whatever reason, there was an assassination attempt on the Demon King. The Arcana Lord was blamed and expelled from the Four Great Demon Lords. He deserved it."

"Let me guess," Hakase interrupted. She was sitting on the ground, tinkering with one of her inventions. They had thought she lost interest in the conversation. "The Arcana family wasn't happy, and since their assassination attempt failed, they decided to gather an army of demons and take over with brute force. Predictable plot."

"She's good," Kiba stated, blinking. "That about sums it up."

"So all the mid- and lesser demon families started taking sides," Ayaka deduced. "Creating a messy and unstable political system. And no offense, but all the lesser demon tribes coming in from the Magic World probably isn't helping any matters."

"Which brings the problem right around and back to the Magic World, which is collapsing in just a few years," Haruna stated. "Not the root of the problem, but it's related."

"The Magic World's fate may be more intertwined with this situation than you would originally think," Zazie said, but did not explain the origin of her thoughts. "Thank you for telling us these things." Konoka stared at the demon girl, lost in deep thought. What did that mean? Negi would have been able to figure out the mystery behind her words immediately…

"What're a bunch of humans doing in Mundus Diabolus, anyway?" Kai asked, eating a rice ball offered to her by Satsuki. "Hey, human food ain't so bad…"

"I am seeking an audience with the Demon King so my father can meet my new friends," Zazie lied, quickly and effortlessly. Setsuna looked impressed. "However, with this war, it might be harder to get to his castle than I thought."

"I would suggest splitting into smaller groups," the Dog Chief advised. "You will not be detected by possible enemies. In addition, because of the assassination attempt, the Demon King has altered the teleportation system to his castle."

At this, Zazie showed a minor amount of surprise. "What has he done?"

"Whenever someone is going to his castle, the telepoints only activate when all Four Great Demon Lords trigger the magic behind them on the same moon phase."

"Oh, _crap_," Fuka said under her breath.

"That means we're gonna have to see all four Demon Lords, aren't we?" Makie asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Yep!" Kiba answered cheerfully. "Lucky you!"

"Then there's no going about it, huh?" Haruna asked with a grin, pushing her glasses up her nose. "We're splitting into four groups, one for each teleportation point." The summoner artist scratched her chin. "And we've got a pretty wide target to aim for. The same moon phase? Isn't that a few days, at the very least?"

"Not quite," Zazie said, shaking her head. "It equates to around the length of a day back in our world. Since there is no daytime in this world, the phases of the moon make quite a convenient measurement of time."

"That complicates things," Konoka said, her hands folded within her sleeves. Despite that, she flashed an encouraging smile to her companions. "Oh well, we can do it!"

As they all cheered, the Dog Chief continued speaking to Zazie. "If you would like, you and your… friends, are welcome to rest for a short time. When you are ready to leave, we will teleport you all to the base of the mountain so you can be on your way."

"That would be appreciated," Zazie said with a nod. "Thank you." With one swift glance at Kotaro, the Dog Chief turned and went back into his hut.

* * *

"Thank you again for all your help, Kiba," Ayaka said politely to the Dog Demon. "These tents are suitable for us."

"No problem, lady," he replied, scratching his head.

"Pfft, Class Rep obviously hates having to downgrade to a _tent_," Yuna snickered to Makie.

"I hear you!" the loud blonde shouted at them. "And it is not true! Eva-sensei had me on a rigorous training regime…"

Konoka turned to Kiba, bowing. "Please ignore them. We're really grateful!"

Though they were on the very outskirts of the mountain village, Ala Alba was generously given a cluster of tents and a small fire to rest while they planned how to get around the Demon Lords. Konoka momentarily glanced at Satsuki as she cooked with Chachamaru around the fire.

"You can keep the tents, too," Kiba said. "Nobody's gonna want them back now that your human scents are on 'em."

"Kiba, come look at this!" Kai called to her brother. She was sitting with Kotaro, who finally seemed to be warming up to his half-siblings. "Kota's made a few _pactios_, and with _human_ girls! Nasty!"

"What? Are you serious?" Kiba asked, roaring with laughter. "He wants to be a mage?"

"Hey! I am a mage," Kotaro protested. "And I wanna be a Magister Magi someday, just like my rival Negi!"

Kai flicked him in the forehead. "What're you, fifteen? And what kind of demon wants to be a Magister Magi?"

From a short distance away, Natsumi, Chizuru, Madoka, Ayaka, and Konoka were observing him with his siblings. "He looks like he's having fun," Natsumi said with a gentle smile on her face. "I'm glad, since he was so upset before. He wanted some kind of recognition from his father."

"You two are pretty close, aren't you?" Konoka asked teasingly. "Considering you can read his thoughts so well…"

"That has nothing to do with it!" Natsumi protested angrily.

Chizuru laughed. "If we're not careful, Kotaro might decide to stay here with his family."

"He would never! Would he?" Natsumi asked unsurely. Konoka doubted it – not only because of Kotaro's loyalty to Ala Alba and his ministrae, but also because of the unfortunate truth that he wouldn't be welcome back in his village. Out of all the Dog Demons they saw, only Kiba and Kai seemed at ease around him.

"Kotaro? Are you kidding?" Madoka chuckled. "He would never pass up the chance to save Negi and throw it in his face later."

"Still," Ayaka mused, staring at him as he started wrestling Kiba. "As Natsumi said, he was acting very strange earlier. I am happy that he found his family, but…" Konoka understood. Despite how much she despised him at first, Ayaka had gotten close to Kotaro in recent years.

"You're worried for him," Chizuru observed. "You might as well join us as his newest ministra, Ayaka!"

"Not another one!" Natsumi protested immediately, while Madoka frowned and glared between Chizuru and Ayaka.

"Never! I am preserving my lips for Sensei!"

Konoka laughed into her hand and went over to the fire to help Satsuki and Chachamaru, when she heard Kiba say something she didn't expect.

"Yo, Kota. Why don't you just stay in the village? I know things are weird now, but I bet everyone will eventually get used to having you around!" he said cheerfully.

"Yeah, ditch the humans," Kai put in, not even bothering to lower her voice. All the activity around Ala Alba's little campsite stopped.

Kotaro's demeanor immediately changed from playful to cold. "I can't do that."

"Aw, why not? We're your family, aren't we?" Kai responded, frowning. "Our pack has to stick together."

"You kicked me out when I was a baby," Kotaro said quietly, turning away from them.

"Don't be stupid," Kiba said to him, eyebrows furrowed. "It's not like we had a choice."

"But I was one of you. You have no idea what kind of a rough life I had to live through on my own," he responded, glaring.

"It's not exactly a picnic living in the Demon World, either," Kai said to him.

"Eh, forget it. You've been softened by these stupid humans. You're not even worth it. You even reek like them now." The dog demon stood up and started to walk back to the village. "You coming, Sis?"

She looked unsurely at her half-brother. "I guess."

Konoka felt Kotaro's magic power surge, and she knew what would happen before it even did. The next thing anyone knew, Kiba was down on the ground, face first, while Kotaro stood over him with his wolf spirits spinning at his side. "I don't give a damn what you say about me, but don't you _dare_ say anything about my family."

Kiba glared at him, and for a moment looked like he was about to attack him back, but he grit his teeth and stood up, walking away. "Whatever."

Kai followed after her brother, but glanced back at Kotaro one last time, with a surprising look of approval on her face. "I guess it works out better this way," she said. "You should stick with your pack, Kota." She left before he could respond.

Kotaro settled down, glancing at their backs as they walked away. Scratching his head, he turned around, his face red with embarrassment. "Sorry you guys had to see that." Natsumi smiled and walked to his side, hugging him, to his further embarrassment.

"I'm glad you made this choice," she said, laying her head against his chest. Chizuru smiled, while Madoka put her hand on her hip, looking relieved.

"You're one of us!"

"You always were."

"Sorry to interrupt," Zazie said blankly. "But we need to decide who is going to which Demon Lord's castle."

"Way to darken the mood, Zazie!" Fuka shouted, sticking out her tongue.

"No, she's right," Konoka said, striding a little ways away from the group. "Secchan, Zazie, Ayaka, Kotaro, Haruna, Asakura, Sayo, Chachamaru, and Misa… Please come with me. To make things easier, we will decide the groups we'll be traveling in from now on."

"Heh, she's even making plans with a small group of people, like Negi used to," Yuna observed. "I don't mind, though. That's the boring stuff."

"The sign of a true leader," Hakase stated, proud of Konoka. "Picking and choosing her most loyal followers so she doesn't get backstabbed in the end."

"That's not the reason!" Misora objected angrily.

* * *

"Heh, I feel like I got promoted, getting in on the juicy, secretive stuff," Haruna said with a grin, while Asakura and Sayo nodded in agreement.

"Well, aside from Ayaka, Zazie, and Misa, we _are_ the original members of Ala Alba," Konoka said. "I respect your opinions. And I'm choosing Ayaka and Misa to lead two of the groups."

"Me?" the former cheerleader asked in surprise. Konoka nodded.

Zazie magically produced her map of Mundus Diabolus again in a flash of red light. "Our little detour to the Dog Tribe lengthened our journey slightly, but our plan still stands. We will go to each of the Four Great Demon Lords' castles and unlock the seals to their teleportation points, confront the Demon King, and save Negi and the others."

"So we're splitting into four groups of six," Ayaka calculated. "One for each Demon Lord."

"And then all getting back together for the Demon King!" Sayo contributed.

"It's kind of dangerous to split up, but it's probably our best bet," said Asakura.

"Secchan and I will go for who we originally planned," Konoka said. "The Southern Demon Lord. Asakura, Sayo, I'd like you two to come with us." After a moment of thought, she added, "We'll take Luna and Akira as well."

"I will go to the Northern Demon Lord," Ayaka declared. "Chachamaru, will you come with me?"

"Yes," the robot answered automatically. "Though we should also bring the twins and Satsuki Yotsuba. For my own benefits, I would like Hakase to come with us as well. This group dynamic works efficiently to keep you in line, Class Rep."

"To keep me in line?" Ayaka griped immediately. "And for the last time, I am Student Council President!"

"I'll go for the East Demon Lord, then," Kotaro said, peering at the map before Ayaka could argue. "Natsumi, Chizuru, and Madoka are coming with me." Konoka nodded, knowing it would be best to take his attendants.

"Bring Yuna and Makie as well," Setsuna told him. "Those two work as a great team, and Natsumi and Chizuru are not suited for combat."

"Then that leaves the West Demon Lord for me," Misa said. "Sakurako's coming with me, but who else?"

"Zazie, would you go with them?" Konoka asked.

"Of course," she replied. "I will guide them well."

"I've got a good feeling about this group," Haruna said. "I'm coming with you since you've got the Queen of Luck. Uh… Who else is left?"

"Misora and Ako!" Sayo supplied.

"Alright! Sakurako, Zazie, Haruna, Misora, and Ako. Not a bad team, if I say so myself," Misa said proudly. "I'm ready to try out this leadership thing!"

"Maybe I should reconsider…" Haruna muttered to herself.

"Good job, Konoka," Chachamaru complimented. "These teams are fairly well-balanced in terms of combat potential with the noncombatants spread out evenly."

"You think so?" Konoka asked, smiling.

"This is my opportunity to show myself as an able leader in Sensei's stead!" Ayaka said pompously.

"Are you sure you made the right move, giving her a group?" Asakura remarked to Konoka.

"It should be fine," the healer responded. She clapped her hands together, smiling brightly. "Now that that's over with, let's all get to sleep! We're leaving nice and early!" She giggled to herself. "Ala Alba Council, dismissed!"

* * *

**Author's Note: **Please review!


	7. The Four Paths

**Author's Note: **Checking in on Negi… By the way, I don't really own the character by the name of Isaac. He's Akamatsu's creation, but doesn't have more than a few lines, so I created his personality and abilities. He's the only real "OC" who will be in more than one chapter of this story, on Ala Alba's side, anyway.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the _Negima! Magister Negi Magi _series, or any of its translations, characters, settings, or otherwise; nor do I profit from anything concerning it.

_**Mundus Diabolus**_

**Chapter Six: The Four Paths**

"Negi! Stop looking so distracted, we're trying to have fun here!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," the ten year-old mage quickly responded, turning back to Anya, Ama, and Nekane – his childhood friend, sister, and cousin. "I was just thinking of a spell theory I had…"

"You should enjoy the moment a little bit more, Negi," his older cousin told him with a gentle smile. "Right now, we're just walking through town. Have some fun."

It was a bright, Welsh afternoon. Nekane was back in town, on a break from her own studies, so Negi and Ama took the time out of their schooling to come see her. Nekane was currently holding the six year-old girl's hand, while Anya trooped along next to Negi.

"All you think about is school," his classmate huffed, crossing her arms.

"School's fun," Ama contributed, jumping in a puddle and splashing the unfortunate Nekane.

"It's so clear that you two are siblings," Nekane pointed out, pulling the little blonde away from the puddles.

"Ama isn't as dumb as Negi is yet, though," Anya said. "I plan to do a better job with her."

Negi simply smiled. "Not if I get to her first," he said to her teasingly. "I am her older brother, after all."

"If she becomes a little brat that just sits and studies all the time, I'd probably die!" Anya burst. Negi and Nekane laughed.

His little sister Amateru did seem to have a flair for her studies and a love of magic, just like Negi, being the children of the Thousand Master and the Queen of Calamity.

_The Queen of Calamity? _Negi wondered. _Where did that come from?_

"Weren't Mom and Dad missing for ten years?" Negi said to Ama, Nekane, and Anya.

"What're you talking about, Negi?" Anya furrowed her brow. "You're so stupid sometimes."

"Negi? Are you okay?" Nekane asked, concerned.

"Mommy and Daddy are at home," Ama said.

"No… I don't have a sister," he said to himself. Ama wasn't real.

_Audacia Paula. I have to say it. I know how to get out of this…_

"…Negi?" He saw the image of his pretend sister, looking up at him with her wide, heterochromatic eyes.

The illusion of his hometown, his sister, cousin, and friend shattered.

And then it changed to another illusion.

He was in the middle of a battle.

He was older, back in his fifteen year-old body, wearing his long, tattered robe, armed with his staff and all of his incantations. Momentarily stunned, he was unprepared for the Ki-enhanced elbow that slammed into his ribs, throwing him backward.

"Negi! Pay attention, you idiot!" Anya yelled at him. "These bounty hunters are tougher than the usual ones!" The bounty hunter looked shocked that he managed to land a hit on the well-known son of Nagi himself, but was quickly taken down with one of Anya's compressed fireball spells.

"Sorry!" he shouted back to her, and started to chant his activation key to attack an enemy mage that was casting at him. "Ras Tel Ma Scir Magister…" Before he could start his spell, however, the enemy mage was engulfed with a spinning cage of lightning, courtesy of Yue as she flew by on her broom, Nodoka riding in back. The mind reader jumped off of the broom while it was in motion, landing sprightly next to her former teacher.

"You're so distracted today, Sensei," she reprimanded him gently, uncaring of the battle finishing up around them. "Chisame would hit you right about now. In fact, look behind you."

"Huh?"

_WHAM._

A fist impacted with the back of his head, courtesy of the hacker. He lurched forward, pushed by the force behind her strike. "Ouch! You're almost like Asuna when it comes to getting through magic barriers!"

"Call it a special talent," Chisame said with a smirk. "You're zoning out way too much and I had to beat some sense into you because Asuna's busy saving your ass. What's your problem?"

"Nothing in particular," he said with a convincing smile. "Thanks for the concern." Chisame didn't look convinced, but she stopped pressing.

Despite having Asuna back, Chisame was still one of his most treasured people, and his closest advisor. Along with Anya and more often, Asuna, she kept him from doing anything stupid. Like Nodoka, she wasn't very suited for combat, even in their smaller group, but it didn't matter. She had grown in her own ways over the years.

Nodoka, too, had gotten older, and also closer to her teacher. She still had very little talent for magic, but was quite capable of defending herself from their harsh Magic World enemies. She also kept Negi going, giving him words of encouragement and nurturing him whenever she could.

Yue landed next to them, dismissing her artifact and Ariadne Mage Cadet sword. "Negi," she said. "Kaede and Mana are rounding up the bounty hunters that tried to get away. Asuna, Ku, Beatrix, and Isaac are disabling the already defeated ones and determining their identities to hand into the proper authorities. Overall, the mission was a success," she reported. As aspiring Magister Magi, Negi, Yue, Anya, and their ministri traveled around the Magic World and did any odd jobs they could to help the people while they looked for clues on and occasionally clashed with Cosmo Entelecheia.

"Thank you," Negi said. Yue had become even more of a talented (though still short) witch than she was before, fighting as cleverly as Negi and utilizing her immense intellect. While she wasn't as filled with raw power as Negi and Konoka, she was a potent Magic Knight who pinpointed weak points effortlessly nonetheless, especially with her ministra Beatrix at her side. Collet was her other ministra, but… "What about Anya?" he asked.

"She's right behind you," Yue told him.

"Huh?"

_WHAM._

"Negi, you're gonna end up getting killed one day if you keep your head in the clouds!" the fire mage shrieked at him.

"That hurt, Anya!" Negi yelled back, holding his bruised head and slightly burnt hood in pain.

"You deserved it," she said, her hands on her hips. "Your enemies could do so much worse if you keep zoning out." Anya was now a proper sorceress, and had grown from a cute eleven year-old fire mage to the sixteen year-old busty teen she was today. She was a powerful and destructive mage who preferred casting the bigger spells from the back line with her cane wand, but also wasn't afraid to mix it up on the front lines with her enemies. Her minister, Isaac, was also a skilled warrior.

Isaac Rodolphus was Kurt Gödel's young assistant three years ago – a quiet, curly-haired boy who once expressed a desire to have as many close friends as Negi did. When Takamichi and Gödel disappeared for undercover work, they ran into Isaac and he joined their cause, becoming Anya's first and only minister not long after. His artifact was valuable to Anya, and also to Negi for a different reason.

After Jack Rakan, Negi's old mentor and close friend, was rewritten, his artifact seemed to have passed on to the young boy.

"I just feel strange," Negi admitted, shrugging. Suddenly, he sensed something beneath them. "Everyone, watch out! An earth mage, in the ground!" He focused his magic in his fist, moving to slam it against the ground when the earth exploded beneath him, throwing the three mages, Nodoka, and Chisame into the air. Negi rushed to soften the noncombatants' landing with a barrier of air, while Yue shot a wordless bolt of lightning from her wand and Anya responded by wreathing herself in flames.

The bounty hunter-turned-criminal mage had pre-summoned stone golems at the ready, which absorbed Yue's lightning. Multiple boulders were fired from the ground for Nodoka and Chisame, who the mage seemed to pinpoint as the weakest members of their party. Negi crumbled one to pieces while a single bolt of lightning destroyed the other.

"This one's stronger than the others," Negi said. As he spoke, Chisame was suddenly pulled into the ground up to her neck, too fast for Negi to stop it.

"Damn, sorry," Chisame said, strangely calm. Perhaps she was used to this kind of dangerous situation.

"Hand yourselves over peacefully, or I'll crush her!" the earth mage demanded, clenching his fist for good measure. Chisame choked.

"Let her go!" Negi yelled, running the situation through his mind, trying to think of any possible solution. He was not skilled at earth magic – taking her out of the ground against the enemy mage's wishes was not possible for him, short of crushing her himself. Yue, Nodoka, and Anya looked at him, waiting for some kind of order. The earth mage was flanked by half a dozen stone golems each the size of a house.

Stumped, but not ready to give up, he looked to the sky when he heard the whistle of an arrow. A single, black projectile soared through the air, but split into two, and then four, eight magical copies… Until they shadowed the earth mage and rained down on him and his golems, though the magical constructs moved to shield him from the arrows. However, the arrows seemed to be enchanted, as each one of them exploded on contact.

"Tatsumiya!" Chisame said with a smirk, her head still sticking out of the ground. Sure enough, the sniper appeared over the hill, wielding her ornate blue bow from her pactio with Negi. She signaled to them, just as another shape plummeted from the air, headed straight for the earth mage.

The enemy mage managed to barely dodge the lance that pierced the ground where he was just standing, Beatrix attached to it. The attendant smirked as a shockwave of magic and energy expanded from the source of impact, throwing the enemy mage off his feet.

As the mage scrambled away from them in pain, attempting to cast another spell, he was stopped when he stumbled into an enormous sword sticking in the ground, wielded by Asuna. "You're not going anywhere, buddy." Desperate, he tried crawling another way, only to be stopped by the gently smiling ninja, Kaede, while Ku Fei grabbed him from behind by the collar of his shirt, effortlessly lifting him up with a cat-like smile of her own.

"You're done!" she said to him cheerfully.

"We'll break your fingers if you even think about casting another spell," Mana said, approaching them. "All your allies are finished."

"All of them have been rounded up, Negi," Isaac reported, approaching him from the side – tall and stoically confident. "They are in a cage of my swords."

"Thank you," Negi said, working to get Chisame out of the ground. "Wait, where did Asuna go? I may need her to disable this magic seal…"

"Right behind you," Isaac said blankly.

"Huh?"

_WHAM._

"Negi! I can't believe how much of an absolute _idiot_ you are! Do I need to babysit you in every battle? You were just standing there, staring off into space, like you think you're invincible or something!" the Magic World princess shouted at his motionless body on the ground.

"He might be concussed," Nodoka said worriedly.

Barely conscious, Negi inwardly smiled. This wasn't his reality, but it was from a time he missed. He couldn't even think of the words needed to escape.

* * *

Kotaro folded his arms sullenly as he waited for the girls to pack up their things and get ready to leave the Dog Tribe village. He was eager to get out as fast as he could – at the moment, he didn't want anything to do with his half-brother Kiba. His first real meeting with his family… and they wanted him to stay? He could never. He was too close to everyone from Ala Alba. And now, all they wanted was for him to leave.

Humans weren't supposed to be in the Demon World. He could see that now. They had to rescue Negi and the others and get out as fast as they could.

The half-dog demon glanced at Setsuna, the only one who could possibly relate to his situation. She waited uncomfortably as everyone was preparing to leave, while the villagers gave her a wide berth despite the fact that she wounded the Bird Tribe's vulture god for them. She was standing next to Konoka, who spoke with the Dog Chief about Ala Alba's safe passage down the mountain – dog demons would be bringing everyone down through shadow teleportation, where they would split into their four groups and head to the Demon Lords' castles. Kotaro tried to catch the eye of the Dog Chief, his own father, who continued to ignore his presence.

Despite being so unlike Negi, Konoka, in Kotaro's opinion, made a pretty good leader. Kotaro himself knew he would never be able to take up Negi's mantle – it just wasn't his style, but the light mage stepped into his shoes well. While he couldn't fight with her like he did with Negi (and it was NOT because she was a girl – he was pretty sure he was over that now), he did approve of her leadership.

Though now she wanted him to lead a small group to the Eastern Demon Lord. He slumped, his ears and tail dropping. At least it was just his attendants, who he of course felt comfortable with, and Yuna and Makie, who he enjoyed sparring with sometimes.

"What're you complaining about, Kotaro?" Chizuru asked, striding over to him with a knowing smile on her face.

"I didn't say anything," he replied. "I just wanna get going."

The older girl just laughed. "I just know you're thinking about something that you'll whine about in a few minutes."

"There's nothin' to worry about," Yuna said, coming over to them. "So, when are we gonna get going?" A crowd of dog demons matching the size of Ala Alba approached, ready to teleport them away from the mountain. Kai and Kiba were nowhere to be seen.

"I guess it's time to say goodbye for a little while, isn't it?" Ako asked with a sad smile, standing next to the taller Akira.

"We'll all get through this," Akira reassured. "We'll all get to the Demon King's castle in one piece, and everything will be okay."

"There are slight odds in favor of some groups more than others making it to the Four Lords' castles, but nothing astronomical. Everything is satisfactory," Hakase said.

"I don't know if that's supposed to be reassuring or not," said Misora, rolling her eyes.

"See you in about a week?" Misa said to Madoka, hugging her friend. "Too bad you're not my ministra, then you could come with us."

When they separated, Sakurako threw her arms around the short-haired cheerleader. "I'll miss you!"

"Sorry, Misa," Madoka said with a grin. "I'll miss you guys, too. Take care of each other! This could be an awesome adventure."

"Of course it will be!" Fuka threw in. "And scary!"

"And dangerous," agreed Fumika. "But I can't wait to see Kaede again."

"I'll grade Misa's leadership skills for you, Konoka," Haruna said to her friend with a thumbs-up.

"Just help each other," Konoka said. "The leader shouldn't set all the rules – just keep everyone moving! But I want you to all work together."

"You chose the right people," Setsuna said with a slight smile. "They will succeed in their journeys."

"I think it's time for Ala Alba Club Prez to make a speech," Asakura roused, getting her camera ready. "Just like Negi used to."

"Yeah! Go for it!" Sayo cheered.

"It will admittedly raise group morale," Zazie told her, smiling softly.

"Um… If you say so," Konoka said, her cheeks turning red. "Well, everyone… Do your best! We're going to see our friends again, and all return to the Old World together! Don't lose hope!" Kotaro heard her speaking in a lower tone to Setsuna. "Doesn't compare to Negi, but I guess it'll have to do," she said, as everyone cheered for her. "I still need some practice."

He knew she could do it.

Standing with Yuna, Makie, Chizuru, Madoka, and Natsumi, Kotaro and a handful of other dog demons opened up shadow portals, grabbing onto each of the girls. Before he left, he spotted the Dog Chief – his father – standing with Kai and Kiba.

His father was smiling at him proudly.

* * *

Shadow teleportation, for Ayaka, was annoyingly disorienting. She was forced to rely on one of the hairy dog demons pulling her down the mountain, riding on his back. It was embarrassing and he had the distinct stench of wet dog.

Thankfully, it was over fast. The moment she could breathe again, she stood up straight and brushed herself off, trying to look as dignified as possible. She regarded the rough and rather ugly looking dog demon coolly. "We appreciate your help."

"No prob, smelly human!" he replied, vanishing back into his shadow portal.

"Smelly human? You're the one who smells like a common mutt!"

"Ayaka, you should be a bit nicer to them," Fumika said to her meekly, as the other demon escorts disappeared as well.

"Hmph," Ayaka turned to the group she was supposed to lead, looking over them all. Satsuki Yotsuba was looking at her with a gentle, knowing smile – the most down-to-earth girl in their entire class. Satomi Hakase was already tinkering with something from her backpack, oblivious to the world. Fuka, the class prankster – even now that they were eighteen years old – eyed the scientist's backpack with a mischievous glint. Chachamaru stood calmly and waited for the group to begin moving, while Fumika, who had become a little more sensible than her twin sister, looked as if she wanted to stop Fuka's ideas before they started.

They weren't among her circle of close friends, but she did respect Satsuki, Chachamaru, and Fumika at the very least, though Hakase and Fuka were surprisingly effective fighters in their own right. Ayaka just knew she was the beauty of the group, which gave her comfort.

"Our objective is the North Demon Lord," Chachamaru stated for everyone's benefit. "The Frozen Sovereign."

"Our trip's the longest, isn't it?" Fuka complained.

"Not precisely," Hakase interjected, not taking her eyes off her small gadget. "The West Demon Lord is a little further than the North Lord from our current position, so Misa's group has the longest trip. Even though the dog demons saved us some time, it will take us approximately a week to reach our destination. Konoka and Kotaro will reach their destinations first, but they will have to wait for everyone else so all four portals to the King's castle can be activated together."

"She is correct," Ayaka said. "We have no time to waste. Sensei, we are coming for you!"

"I wonder how closely in sync we will have to be in order for the four portals to work," Hakase wondered aloud. "Zazie said that there is a contraption in the castles that will turn them all on and notify us that everyone has reached their destination. Not a foolproof plan… Many things can go wrong…"

"What is she mumbling about?" Fuka whispered to her sister, who shrugged in equal confusion.

* * *

"Everyone ready to go?" Misa asked her group, standing tall. "We've got the longest trip, and from here on out, we're on our own."

Haruna smirked, ready to take on the entire Demon World. As one of the original members of Ala Alba, Misa was glad to have the summoner artist and trusted her to help lead the group. They had many similarities, but many differences too, and Misa wondered how well they'd work together. "Ready whenever everyone else is."

"The Western Demon Lord, the Archmage of Plague," Sakurako said, her eyes wide. "Why'd you have to pick the one that sounds scariest, Misa?" The former lead cheerleader smiled sheepishly, but didn't answer. Sakurako was her best friend, and reliable. With her, they couldn't go wrong.

"Can't wait to get this part of the trip over with," Misora threw in, sighing. "I could get there in a day if I was by myself…" The battle nun, Misa knew, would prove to be a great ally as well, especially now that she had overcome her fears of fighting.

"But you wouldn't be able to take on a Demon Lord by yourself!" Ako told her. The support mage looked a little out of place without her best friend Akira, but she was still close to the cheerleaders, formerly being in a band with them. Ako was one of Misa's oldest friends.

"Our journey on a whole should not be a difficult one until we get to the Demon Lord's castle, though it is the longest. We will be avoiding much of the perils that the other paths will have, and may even be able to take a short rest in a town that should be neutral in the war," Zazie said. Misa didn't know what to think of the former circus acrobat. As the daughter of the Demon King, she wondered why Zazie was helping them, especially considering she was never really close to anyone from their old class. She would have to share her suspicions with Haruna later, so the two could keep an eye on her. However, even though they didn't know where her allegiances truly were, they had to rely on the demon as their guide.

"That's a relief," Misa said. "Archmage of Plague, here we come!"

* * *

"So we've got to go northeast-ish from here, right?" Kotaro asked Chizuru, who was calculating their destination with a star map. He was much more at ease now that they were away from the Dog Tribe.

"Yep," Yuna answered. "The Eastern Demon Lord, the Count of Ancient Bane. Sounds awesome." The magic gunner strode ahead confidently, displaying unflinching bravery. He was glad to have her at his side for the battles coming up ahead. She was one of their tougher fighters, and more than a match for some demons.

Makie followed right behind her without even pausing. The two made a great team together, and Kotaro knew she'd also be useful when it came to close combat. When he fought against Makie in training in the past, she was always an unpredictable fighter, and he liked that.

Rolling up her map, Chizuru smiled at Kotaro. "We'll be fine," she reassured. While not a fighter herself, Chizuru still scared the crap out of him, and still had her artifact…

_Yeah, don't have to worry about her, _he thought to himself, shivering.

Madoka, too, was a great fighter thanks to her artifact, and had the ability to cause widespread destruction. She definitely had more brute strength than Yuna and Makie, and probably even Kotaro himself, though she lacked the varied abilities and finesse that the other girls admittedly had. Still, he was glad to have her as his ministra.

Natsumi followed up last. She was his first ministra, and very important to him. She wasn't a fighter at all, but he preferred it that way. He didn't want her getting hurt. If he could, he would have kept her from coming to the Demon World altogether, but he knew that they all needed her.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, putting a hand on his arm.

Kotaro grinned and pumped his fist. "Of course I am! I'm all fired up! Negi, here we come!"

* * *

Konoka breathed in deeply, looking over the perpetually dark world. She stood on a rocky precipice overlooking the white desert that they had traversed on their way to the Dog Tribe. The land felt desolate, and even though the dark shapes seemed to be constantly moving through the sky, it also felt peaceful.

She turned back to her companions as they began the climb down into the sand. Briefly, she wondered if they would be able to avoid the sand traps that led to the endless abyss below them.

"Stay on high alert," Setsuna advised, dutifully helping everyone descend. "The Bird Tribe is probably still in the area." Konoka smiled at her ministra and best friend. The staunch warrior would never change. Despite her own considerable power, Konoka still relied on her. She always would.

"My spy golems will always be scouting ahead," Asakura told her, mature and confident. She, too, was still the same as ever – clad only in a tank top and shorts, yet always ready for anything with her camera. "I'll handle navigation."

"South Demon Lord, here we come!" Sayo said with faux cheerfulness. "The Chaotic Nightfall."

Sayo hovered above them, weaving through the air seemingly without a care in the world. The ghost girl, she knew, was protecting them from harmful demonic energies in the atmosphere. For the other groups, she made special charms made from her hair. Years ago, Konoka never would have guessed that Sayo would become such a reliable protector.

Luna followed behind in her frilly skirt, wordless yet gentle. Konoka was glad to have her – with her ability to seamlessly copy any of her allies or enemies, she was a powerful ally for any situation, and she would balance out the fact that Asakura and Akira were not very well suited for combat. The former swimmer strode next to her, missing her best friend Ako but always willing to provide the emotional support they needed.

Konoka clasped her hands and stared at the silvery moon, whispering under her breath, almost as if in prayer. "Negi… Asuna… Everyone… We're coming. We're going to be saving you this time."

* * *

**Author's Note: **More pactio cards! Again, I don't own Isaac, even though I gave him a name. He's the young boy, appearing around Negi's age, who is Kurt Gödel's assistant that appears in a few chapters. But you get three pactio cards this time, lucky readers!

Name: Mana Arcana (XVIII)

Title: Diabolus Oculam (The Demon Eye)

Partner: Negi Springfield

Artifact: Arcus Magi, the Bow of the Magi. It is an ornate bow that has arrows that are designed to pierce most barriers and defenses, while being able to magically multiply in the air at the same time. She can also imbue her arrows with her magister's spells for added effects.

Tonus: Nigror (Black)

Virtus: Fides (Faith)

Directio: Auster (South)

Astralitas: Pluto (Pluto)

Name: Isaac Rodolphus (XXXV)

Title: Militis Vigilus (The Alert Knight)

Partner: Anna Yurievna Cocolova

Artifact: Ho Heros Meta Chillion Prosopon, the Man of a Thousand Faces. The former artifact of Jack Rakan before he was rewritten. It has the same abilities as Jack's artifact, being able to form any weapon and even armor.

Tonus: Cyaneum (Indigo)

Virtus: Spes (Hope)

Directio: Oriens (East)

Astralitas: Saturnus (Saturn)

Name: Beatrix Monroe (XXXIII)

Title: Stipator Silentium (The Quiet Attendant)

Partner: Yue Ayase

Artifact: Quiris Tripudis, the Leaping Spear. It is a lance that Beatrix can use to propel herself into the air, impaling her enemies from above. However, she can store either Ki or magic energy in the spear during the jump, which explodes outwards when she lands, causing shockwaves of energy. She can also use her artifact in standard, close-range combat situations.

Tonus: Caerulum (Blue)

Virtus: Justitia (Justice)

Directio: Septentrio (North)

Astralitas: Cometes (Comet)

Please review!


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